The games we like to play
by charlotte90
Summary: Felicity is Oliver's EA. They take a trip to Central City to close an important business deal for Queen Consolidated but one of Oliver's ex girlfriends gets in the way. She tries to sabotage Oliver and Felicity' s relationship, thinking it's not purely professional. Needless to say things don't turn out as expected.
1. Chapter 1

"This is an important deal. If you close it-" Felicity suddenly stopped in her tracks, noticing that her boss wasn't paying attention to her, at all.

She eyed him, slightly annoyed. He was sitting at his desk, legs stretched in front of him, tie hanging loosely around his neck and a deep frown on his face.

He was watching the documents of the new deal he was supposed to sign and Felicity couldn't understand what was wrong. She spent half of the day clearing all the doubts he had and everything seemed pretty straightforward. Their CFO was almost jumping on the walls when they were discussing the final terms of the deal and the only thing left to do was finalizing it in person.

"Oliver are you listening to me?" She raised lightly her voice, placing her hands on her hips in an imposing manner and leveling him with a glare. After two years working together they were way beyond formalities. He took over the company after his father's dead and since he majored in dropping out of college, as he liked to joke, he wasn't the most qualified for the position so he gradually started leaning more and more on her and after a rocky start she got to boss him around quite satisfying.

"Does the name Richard Wright mean anything to you?"

"Yes." she frowned at him. "It's the business man you have to meet to close the deal."

Oliver finally teared his eyes from the papers in his hands so he could look at his EA. She was eyeing him warily and he found her expression quite endearing. The first time they met he tried to hit on her, partly because it was his way to relate to any young woman and partly because with her short skirts and colorful lips he found her damn attractive. But after he got the cold shoulder from her and was scold by his father for his unprofessional behavior he decided to move on to more easy conquests and he ended up enjoying their easy banter and their kind of professional relationship.

He shook slowly his head trying to hide his little smirk.

"No, I meant something else." She blinked at him, still unsure of what was up with him.

"Don't worry." He flashed her his Oliver Queen signature smile and looked like he decided to drop the subject.

"Is everything arranged for the trip?"

"Yes." She pushed the files she was holding towards him and started giving him the details about their trip to Central City. They were going to meet with a new investor, Richard Wright, magnate of the hotel management business.

He made a big fortune in the last twenty years, opening luxurious hotels all over the country and in Europe and now he was looking for something new and challenging where he could put his money. And they hoped that something new was going to be some of their latest projects at Queen Consolidate.

It had been complicated for the company since Robert Queen's death. He went on a boat trip to China, but unfortunately the trip didn't go as planned and they got caught unprepared by a terrible storm that caused the boat to shipwreck. Sadly there were no survivors. Not him, not any members of the crew and not Isabel Rochev, the young woman he took with him.

Needless to say the investors weren't particularly pleased with the change of CEO and the nasty gossips which followed the man's departure didn't help at all.

Moira Queen with all the dignity she could muster avoided coming to the company anymore to shield herself from the scandal and with her younger daughter still in high school the only Queen who could take Robert's role at the top of the company was her son, Oliver.

After two years things were starting to look up but they weren't in a position to pass at any offer, especially one from a man like Richard Wright.

So the next day they were flying to Central City and Oliver was supposed to charm the business man in sealing a deal with them and he couldn't do it without his trusty EA.

"I'm seeing you tomorrow at eight. Don't be late!" She smiled at him and turned to make her way out, ready to call it a night. It was already seven thirty and she haven't packed any of her stuff yet.

"You know me, I' m never late" She heard him, his voice light and teasing and she glanced over at him, shaking her head and earning a playful grin.

* * *

Felicity glanced at her watch sighing, 8:30. No matter how much her boss had changed over the last year or how responsible he became he still couldn't be on time, ever.

She was the opposite, always the responsible girl. Even if to be fair she would have loved to bend the rules, to have fun without worrying about the consequences but that would have more likely ended with her becoming a cocktail waitress like her mother so she resolved to be the straight A student and build a life for herself she could be proud of.

She saw the pilot giving her a sympathetic look and she smiled. At least they could use the corporate jet.

"Hey!" She turned to glare at Oliver, who seemed totally unfazed by the situation, as usual. He grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back at him. He had a way to lower her defenses, especially when he was carrying a steamy cup of coffee from her favorite place.

After a short flight they decided to stop directly at the company to meet Mr. Wright, sending their luggage to the hotel.

"It's going to be fine." Felicity said, eyeing her boss, who had been fidgeting with his tie for the whole car ride. "I know." He smiled while he walked out of the car and extended an hand to help her out, before marching into the large building in front of them.

"Ollie!" they heard an excited squeal coming from the lobby and they both pivoted to face a red head young woman, clearly dressed to impress.

Felicity watched from the corner of her eye Oliver stopping mid step, his smile freezing.

The woman made her way towards them, swaying her hips and batting her eyelashes at her boss, barely noticing her.

"When daddy told me he had to meet with the head of QC I knew I had to swing by. I knew if you wanted to come here in person there had to be a special reason." She said winking suggestively.

Felicity laughed under her breath. Ex girlfriend, obviously. Than something ticked in her memory and she remembered that the previous day Oliver thought the name Richard Wright sounded familiar. And so it should have been, since apparently it was the name of one of his former flames' father. But probably since he couldn't remember some of the girls' names he wasn't likely to remember or know their parents' either.

She glanced sideways at him. She just hoped this girl wasn't going to be a problem and whatever stupid decision he made years ago wasn't going to ruin all the hard work they put in the deal.

She looked at the girl scanning her from eyes to toes. She was beautiful, really, like movie star like beautiful, in a b series movie, possibly x rated, judging by the outfit.

She raised her eyebrows looking at the deep v neckline of her red dress which let more than a glimpse of black lace bra showing, probably for Oliver's benefit. She had high black hills that flattered her long lean legs but she really didn't leave anything to the imagination.

Her long red hair were arranged in a complicated hairdo and her light green eyes were marked by black make up and her lips were painted in a dark red and currently curved in a sly smile.

"Hey Carrie." He was clearly uncomfortable and was shifting on his feet while slightly loosening his tie.

After a moment Felicity saw her gaze sliding slowly on her and her perfect smile turning a bit colder while she took in her appearance, from her simple navy dress to her matching hills, focusing than on her face.

Felicity, feeling self conscious, raised an hand to push her glasses on the bridge of her nose and smoothed imaginary wrinkles from her dress.

"And you are?" "Felicity Smoak." She promptly answered, stretching her hand for the other woman to shake, "I'm mister Queen EA."

"Oh?" She gave a little laugh and added in a mean tone "aren't secretary supposed to be at their desk at the company?"

Felicity lowered her hand slowly and thought that she could very gladly use it to hit her. She has always been an hard worker and being mocked by a woman who probably never worked a day in her life was so not in her plans for the day.

"I'm an EA." She stated, trying to keep her tone neutral.

"Fancy term for secretary."

"Carrie." Oliver said in a low voice and the redhead turned so she could face him and place one of her hands on his chest. Than she addressed Felicity again, not looking away from Oliver. "So you can clear Ollie's schedule for today and we can catch up, for old time sake."

Her tone is suggestive and it made Felicity raise her eyebrows, "wow, desperate much?" She mused.

Than with her great horror she saw both Oliver and Carrie turning to her, her boss with an amused expression gracing his face, his eyes sparkling and Carrie with a furious one, her cheeks slightly red.

She realized she must have said it out loud and clapped a hand on her mouth, terribly embarrassed.

"Oh my god!I'm so sorry!"

She waved her hands around, trying to collect her thoughts and started babbling helplessly.

"You weren't supposed to hear that!it was supposed to stay in my head, here." She pointed towards her head. But probably that wasn't the best thing to say so she kept going trying to fix the situation.

"I don't think you are desperate" she laughed, nervously, "not at all." "You are still young and pretty. Not just pretty! Beautiful! Really, really beautiful!"

"And you have your bra all out because men like that." She said gesturing towards Carrie's chest, who was eyeing her like she was a crazy person. "I can't understand that because I am a woman. And you have no intention on hitting on me. I would be flattered but-"

"Felicity." Oliver finally stepped in to save her, trying unsuccessfully to hide his grin.

She blushed even more, while her brain caught up with what her mouth just blurted out and cast Carrie an apologetic look.

"I' m sorry, by the way."

Carrie quickly gathered herself and gave a little fake laugh.

"Anyway Ollie" she turned to face him once more.

"I' m taking you out for a tour in the city."

"I am here to meet your father. We have a deal to discuss." Oliver seemed quite determined to avoid spending the day with his former flame and Felicity wondered how a six feet tall man could be so frightened by a woman. But he was and judging by the situation he wasn't going to get lucky today, or he probably was, willing or not.

"Oh I know! But when I told him that I wanted to spend a little time with you he decided to reschedule." She batted her eyelashes innocently.

"I would have never imagined that you would have become this serious business man. Although I have to say it' s kind of sexy." She lowered her voice, tracing slowly the lapel of his jacket with one perfect manicured finger.

"I, we were really hoping to see him as soon as possible."

She shifted irritated, obviously getting the hint but not feeling like budging.

"Well you can meet him for dinner if you insist." Her tone a lot sharper now.

"Your secretary can make reservation for the three of us."

"Four." Apparently he wasn't going to be brave enough to face the night alone and he searched her face, silently trying to apologize. "I need Felicity there."

"Of course she needs to bring you your notes." She casually dismissed. "Can we go now? And Felicia, something classy would you?"

"It' s Felicity." She glanced at the woman, her gaze steady and a tight smile on her lips. She was a professional and she wasn't going to pick a fight with that woman, it wasn't her. And more important she wasn't going to fight over her boss.

Carrie let her annoying laugh out again "of course, that's what I said."

Than she proceeded to ignore her completely and tugged at Oliver's sleeve, taking him towards the exit.

Her boss had quite a desperate look on his face and was watching her clearly asking for help. That made her genuinely smile and she shot him an innocent look lightly shaking her head. It seemed like he was finally going to get payback for all the hearts he broke in his younger years and while a part of her was a little sorry to abandon him, as a woman she couldn't say she didn't feel like it was a little deserved.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks everyone for supporting the story!I hope you like this one ;)

* * *

Oliver Queen couldn't believe the predicament he was in. He had been spending the whole morning trying to dodge Carrie's not so subtle approaches and he especially put quite an effort in keeping her hands in safe territory, something he never thought he would have to do.

It also proved to be an unexpectedly difficult task since to his dismay the woman in question had an admirable determination. She probably wasn't used to get no for an answer.

Usually when a woman was so persistent in getting her hands inside his pants Oliver wasn't so keen to stop her. He was a man after all. And he had an impressive record of gossip columns, completed with pretty explicit pictures to prove it.

The problem was that she wasn't any woman, she was one of the crazy girls he used to spend some quality time with while he was in his only long term relationship, with Laurel Lance, a beautiful, classy brunette who met all of his parents' requirement for the perfect woman, the perfect future Mrs. Queen. And now he was in no mood to rekindle the connection with Carrie.

Oliver wasn't the irresponsible boy he used to be anymore, he wasn't going to blow an important business deal for a meaningless fling and he also liked to think that his taste in women had improved towards the years.

For some reasons he couldn't recall what was that he found attractive in the women who used to throw themselves at him, those days he could use a little bit more of mystery and maybe a little class over flamboyance.

"Isn't it nice, Ollie?" Carrie looked at him through thick eyelashes from her place across the table.

They were having lunch in a small, exclusive french restaurant in the most glamorous area of Central City and Oliver was thanking his lucky star for being currently out of her reach thank to the small round table between them so he could try to relax a little, leaning his elbows on the wooded edge.

"Yeah, I like this place." His tone was casual, friendly but he hoped not encouraging. As much as he tried he couldn't remember the kind of relationship she shared with her father. He couldn't remember even if he ever asked, probably not. He was worried about pissing her off and her father becoming protective towards her and sending him back to Starling City, the deal forgotten over defending his little girl's honor.

He also wondered what Richard Wright knew about their previously acquaintance.

He scanned her body and make up, lingering on her very tight, very provocative outfit.

She surely didn't scream good girl by any means but her father most likely wasn't aware or didn't believe her reputation, or he would probably had locked her up somewhere. Oliver knew he would if it was his daughter since he was already having big trouble accepting his baby sister's short skirts and he didn't even want to think about her having a relationship with a boy.

If Mister Wright was aware of his reputation was another problem to consider. The tabloids made no mystery about how he used to spend his nights or who with so it couldn't be too hard to put two and two together. And according to the rumors the man was a shark in the business world, sharp and ruthless, not someone who could easily be fooled.

Oliver sighed, he had thought about asking her about that, but that would be an hell of embarrassing conversation and he was determined to avoid it at all costs. He was going to find out that night anyway, so he could probably use a few more hours of blissful denial.

* * *

Felicity was going to kill him.

If he closed his eyes Oliver could almost see her frowning at him, while wrinkling her pretty bottom nose. Than she would sigh as usual before trying to fix whatever trouble he got himself in that time.

But he had the feeling that this time even his extraordinary assistant will have her issues with the Wright family.

She put so much effort in this deal, so many hours, for his company, for him. He felt like an idiot, no matter how much he tried he always seemed to put her down.

He made the worst first impression ever when she was still his father's EA and even when they started working together he didn't exactly put his best foot forward.

After a while though, when he realized how lucky he was that she chose not to run away like he deserved and stick with him he decided to put his best effort to impress her and show her he could be more than the spoiled brat he used to be, so after a year they became quite the team.

Now she was his trusty confident and her opinion was important to him. He worked hard to gain her trust and respect and he was determined to keep them.

* * *

He tried to listen to Carrie's endless chit chat and to make small talk but he was so bored he could hardly keep it from showing.

Oliver heard his phone ringing and as he saw the face of his EA popping on the screen his forced smile vanished in favor of a real one.

"Excuse me. It may be important." He got up from his seat, turning his back to Carrie, so she couldn't overhear his conversation.

"Hello?"

"Hey!Just checking in, to see if you were still alive and well or if your old _friend_ has kidnapped you and locked you somewhere." He didn't miss the way she stressed the word friend or her teasing tone but he wasn't offended one bit.

"So you were worried about me..interesting."

"Yeah, she totally seemed like a "Misery" type. You know Stephen King's Misery. I could picture her losing her mind and tying you on a bed somewhere. And I can't come back to Starling without the CEO, it would raise too many questions."

Oliver was a bit puzzled by Felicity's always wild imagination, but he quickly recovered, shaking his head and grinning widely. "You know I never told you that, but it's something that actually happened to me." He teased her.

"What?Did a crazy stalker kidnap you?" He heard the surprise in her tone and laughed wholeheartedly.

"No, I had girls who enjoyed tying me up. It was quite popular back in the days." He said smugly, waiting for her reaction.

"Eww, I didn't need to know that."

"Hey, you asked."

"I only asked if you needed help. It was a totally innocent conversation."

Oliver didn't quite agree. Somehow his conversations with Felicity always seemed to take a dirty turn, much to his amusement and her mortification.

He genuinely liked teasing her, but knowing how much embarrassment she felt every time she made an accidental sexual innuendo he avoided contradicting her this time.

"Actually I could use some help."

"No kidding." It was Felicity's turn to be smug now and she seemed to enjoy it.

"Fe-li-ci-ty."

"Ok boss! Work emergency, come here ASAP!"

Oliver shook his head amused, than tried to conceal his expression with a neutral one as he made his way back to the table.

"Sorry Carrie, I have to go. Work emergency."

"Oh come on Ollie! There are so many more things I had in mind" She whined at him, crossing her arms over her chest, clearly ready to throw a tantrum.

"I'm sorry, I' ll see you tonight." He gave her his best smile, the one which used to get him off the hook with the ladies. "I had a great time, thank you."

* * *

Oliver knocked at Felicity's door. He smiled as his assistant flung the door open instantly and she appeared in a baggy MIT shirt, colorful shorts with tiny space ships and an eager expression lighting up her face.

"Uh sorry" She blinked, clearly not expecting him. "I thought you were room service. What are you doing here?"

"I told Carrie I had a work emergency, so I came here to check with my EA. You know I don't like to lie."

She shook her head giving him a stern look, but the slight spark in her eyes gave her amusement away.

"Well don't worry, boss, I took care of everything." She indulged him, "I also made reservation as your sweetheart demanded at a lovely Italian place that I hope will make up for the a little less lovely company."

He grinned at her. "Nobody ever complained about my company before."

She adjusted her glasses. "Yeah, yeah, I figured that much."

That made his smile widely and he was getting ready to tease her a little more when someone behind him interrupted their banter.

"Excuse me?" A young man was waiting at the door, trying to peak inside the room but the way was blocked by Oliver's broad shoulders. He turned to face him, his left hand leaning on the door frame.

"Oooh, it's lunch! Perfect, thank you!"

Felicity strode past him, beaming at the waiter. She tipped him, taking the lunch tray and walking back inside the room.

"What are you doing?" She eyed Oliver warily. "Do- do you want to come in or something?" She was a little hesitant as she started putting her food on the little table in the middle of the room, still watching him from the corner of her eye. "I mean, I' m going to have lunch and you already ate. I just- you know the leaning on the door frame and staring is a bit weird-"

Oliver just shook his head and came inside, closing the door behind him. "I don't have much to do, you know."

"Well you _had_ to do" She emphasized, "but apparently the almighty Oliver Queen is scared of a woman" she grinned widely.

"You are having the time of your life, aren't you miss Smoak?"

"Kind of, yes."

He stole a handful of her fries as she smacked lightly his arm "Hey!"

Felicity stayed silent for a moment, picking nervously at her burger, before glancing at him, pondering if she wanted to ask the question that had been bothering her all morning.

"I was wondering..is this going to be a problem?"

Oliver heart sank at her words, already understanding what she meant but not happy to deal with the matter anyway. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. We are having dinner with Richard Wright and his daughter, who happens to be one of your old flames." She took a sip of her coke, than looked back at him with a kind expression "At least she is not cursing your name, just trying to get into your pants. That's something, isn't it?"

"I really don't know how to respond to that." Oliver took a deep breath and leaned heavily into the chair. "Look I, I know how important this deal is, we are going to get it, I' m not ruining it, it's not going to happen." His tone was firm, but after a year Felicity apparently became quite good at reading him and could see how much this was bothering him as well and she smiled, nodding.

"Ok" She said slowly, after a moment, softly, understanding he needed that, he needed her to trust him.

* * *

_Two years ago_

_Oliver entered slowly the QC lobby, his steps heavy. This was his father's company, his legacy. He flinched at the thought as he felt his guts twisting in a familiar way, at least familiar since he heard the news. _

_Oliver was still in bed, his head pounding without mercy since he had spent the previous night out clubbing with his best friend Tommy, a couple of Russian models and a generous amount of tequila so he winced visibly when their housekeeper, Raisa, came into his room in a frantic manner, telling him his mother needed him downstairs immediately. After a while he managed to climb down his bed, fish a t shirt and he dragged his worn body in the living room, where his mother was waiting for him. _

"_Mom, it's early, you know I went out with Tommy, why did you have to wake me?" He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the look in Moira Queen's face, the slight tremor of her bottom lip and the dead grip she had on the phone. "Mom what happened?" Than his world fell apart: his father was dead, gone, puff, vanished. He drowned in the Queen Gambit's shipwreck. There wasn't even a body to bury, it was like he had never existed. _

_His heart started beating faster at the memory but he wasn't going to let anyone notice his distress._

_He could feel the stares, all the employees' eyes were set on him, or at least he felt that way. What else were to be expected anyway? _

_Robert Queen had been the gossip of the city: loving husband, perfect father, head of a billionaire empire lost in see while partying in his yacht with his mistress, who happened to be his son's age. A good story, worthy of the front line of the gossip's columns. _

_Oliver knew it was a news that made his business competitors laugh at his expenses, a slap in his mother's face, a heartache for his sixteen years old sister Thea and what about him? Did he even have the right to be angry? After all cheating to Laurel and partying with nameless, faceless and willing girls had been his favorite activity. Same father, same son._

* * *

Oliver felt something poking his left cheek. It was a tiny finger with an electric blue painted fingernail.

He turned slightly to look at his assistant, her clear, blue eyes watching him warily, with concern, her eyebrows lightly frowned. "Where were you?" Her voice was soft, her tone curious, but a little hesitant.

He shook his head to tear his thoughts from the memory. "I was thinking of the first time I came to work at QC." "Oh." She smiled a bit at him, a hint of understanding in her eyes.

"I remember." "I made it hard to forget for you. I remember being a jerk." " I remember you being upset."

A comfortable silence settled between them. " I will close the deal." "Yes you will."

* * *

Oliver nervously knocked at Felicity's door. He was fidgeting restlessly with the collar of his white dress shirt, trying to loosen his bow tie.

The problem wasn't the formal attire, he was used to it. He had been to that many Galas, that many pretentious high class parties, that many fancy dinners that this particular evening was supposed to be a walk in the park but for some reason the idea of facing Richard Wright was enough to make him sweat, or maybe it was the idea of meeting the father of some woman he used to fool around with and having to make a good impression that was scaring him.

Oliver was effectively distracted by the woman who had just opened the door.

Felicity was wearing a ruby chiffon gown with spaghetti straps that hugged her body in all the right places and had a little, half moon shaped cut at her waist which let a glimpse of tantalizing soft, creamy skin showing.

"Hey! Eyes up here!" She told him, snapping her fingers in front of his face. As he directed his gaze back at her eyes he saw she was a bit flushed, her cheeks slightly pinker than usual and Oliver realized he must had been caught scanning her body.

He cleared his throat awkwardly and mumbled an apology before guiding her silently to the exit.

While they waited for the car Oliver took the chance to take another look at her.

She had traded her glasses for contacts and her deep blue eyes were highlighted by dark make up, while her lips were painted in a light shade of red. Her blond hair were down, in soft curls and she was clutching a black shawl to cover her exposed shoulders. She looked hot. Classy, but really, really sexy.

"Stop staring." She said annoyed, clearly uncomfortable.

Oliver grinned widely at that. " You look beautiful." She offered no direct replay but he could see her mouthing something under her breath, still keeping her eyes on the road, probably hoping for the car to arrive as soon as possible.

* * *

Oliver glanced around the table. He was sitting at one of the best spots of the restaurant. They were in the terrace, enjoying quite the view of the city. Only the best for two of Starling and Central City richest men.

It was a breezy, perfect night but he was far from enjoying the moment. Felicity was at his right, Carrie at his left and he was facing directly Richard Wright.

The business man was charming, elegant, in his fifties and was looking totally comfortable in his element and pretty pleased with the company. Not his of course, but his pretty assistant definitely had caught his eye.

Felicity was keeping her shawl firmly on her shoulders despite the warm evening, covering her chest from his prying eyes and glaring at Oliver, who she clearly blamed for the situation.

"So miss Smoak what does a beautiful, young woman like yourself feel like drinking? Champagne? I know my little Carrie won't mind letting you choose the bottle, right dear?" " Of course, daddy."

Oliver winced at the exchange. This was a nightmare. The man he was supposed to charm into sealing the deal was ogling his assistant, who was his daughter's age while said daughter was sitting in front of them. And he thought his family was screwed up.

"Actually I prefer red wine." Felicity replied, her voice even.

Oliver was at a loss. He was tempted to grab her and fled dinner but this deal was too important and she would be the first to scowl him for doing something reckless like that.

And they thought Carrie was going to be a problem. He glanced at her, who was watching him from lowered eyelashes. She had a fitted black silk dress, so short it was a miracle she hadn't flashed anyone yet.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably, "We should call for the maitre, so you can pick a bottle" he smiled kindly at Felicity, who apparently wasn't in the mood for forgive and forget so soon and didn't spare him a glance.

He watched her scanning the wine list and choosing one of the most expensive bottle in the list.

"So Mister Wright" He started, better getting to business as soon as possible. "Richard, please. Mister Wright makes me feel old."

Oliver smiled in a way he hoped spelled confidence. "Of course, Richard. So I know you had a couple of points to discuss about our projects for the Applied Science Division and-"

"Oh no! No business talk at dinner" Carrie stepped in with a slightly whiny voice. "Right, daddy?" "Whatever you say sweetheart" her father complied and Oliver pressed his lips tightly, restraining himself from saying anything.

"I want to know everything about you, Felicity dear. This morning we didn't have any chance to chat." Her voice was sweet as velvet, but the hint of venom didn't go unnoticed to him and apparently not to Felicity either, since she followed the statement with a rather incoherent sound that she quickly disguised as a cough.

"So how long have you been working together?" Carrie went on, not a bit discouraged by the lack of response, keeping her eyes focused on Felicity's bowed head like an hawk.

"A little more than an year." His assistant replied cautiously, probably sensing the goal of the conversation.

"That's a long time! You must be really good if Ollie decided to keep you around for all this time." The innuendo didn't go unnoticed by Oliver who shot Carrie a steel look and answered drily in Felicity's place "She is the most competent executive assistant I could ever find."

Felicity turned to look at him visibly surprised by his praise and he saw her gaze softening and he relaxed giving an half smile.

"You are very lucky, than." Carrie added, annoyed by the brief exchange.

Than after a little pause she must have realized that her approach wasn't working as well as she had hoped so she mustered a sweet, innocence look and addressed the other woman once again. "I'm meeting some girlfriends tonight. You should come!"

"Oh no!Thanks, no. I' m good." Felicity seemed horrified by the idea but Carrie wasn't going to get no for an answer.

"Nonsense! You are going out with us. So Ollie and daddy can discuss their very important business deal. I' m sure they would be happy to know you are in such good hands and in a great mood to discuss business. Don't you agree daddy?"

"Of course, dear. Whatever makes you and miss Smoak happy makes me happy."

"Ollie?" Oliver shifted uncomfortably in his seat, feeling cornered. He avoided looking in Felicity's general direction. "Yeah, of course. You should go and have fun."

He could feel his assistant's burning stare and he didn't dare to meet her probably murderous eyes.

"It's settled than!" Carrie said happily, clapping her hands in front of her face, a predatory smile grazing her pretty face.

The rest of the meal went on without further incidents and soon enough they were finishing dessert, a delicious tiramisù, the restaurant's specialty.

Carrie threw her napkin on the table and got up cheerfully. "It's time for us to go!" She leaned to press a kiss on her father's cheek and another one on Oliver's, letting her hand linger on his shoulder and her nails digging slightly in his muscles. "Goodbye!"

Oliver looked up to see Felicity slowly getting up from her seat "Goodnight Mister Wright, it was a pleasure to meet you." She said in a professional tone offering her hand for him to shake.

"The pleasure was all mine, darling." He answered, catching her small hand in his big one and pressing a lingering kiss into the soft skin of the back.

Oliver couldn't hide his wince while watching the blonde quickly retrieving her hand and turning to follow Carrie out of the restaurant without sparring him a glance.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks everyone for supporting the story!

Gin2a: thanks!

Lililovingreading: thanks! I know, but I have a feeling Carrie won't be too happy in the end :)

Guest: Don't fear for Felicity, our girl is the best :)

* * *

Felicity was fuming. She was going to kill him. That traitor. _How could he?_ He dragged her into that awful dinner with the most horrible family ever, really hers was perfection in comparison, and now she was stuck with his crazy ex girlfriend that obviously had a crazy plan in mind.

Felicity eyed her suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.

"Dear I must apologize for this morning." Carrie was looking at her, comfortably sitting on the plump leather seat of the car, her long lean legs stretched and her feet crossed at her ankles.

"Ah I, don't worry." Felicity turned to give her a little smile. She was hesitant to trust that sudden change of attitude because even she wasn't so naïve to believe that the other woman all of a sudden genuinely liked her and wanted to befriend her, but either way she wasn't going to make a fuss about it still hoping that night wouldn't turn uglier. Her father hitting on her over dinner had been enough for her taste.

"I guess I must have come out a little aggressive but at the end of the day us girls must stick together, don't we?"

Her tone was sweet, smooth but there was an alarming glint in her eyes Felicity found quite suspicious. That same look she remembered seeing in Julie Collins's eyes, her high school head cheerleader, when she wanted Felicity to pass her the chemistry test just a few days after mocking her for being the school nerd.

High school taught her quite a lot of useful lessons, aside from the notions she learned in class, such as to not trust mean girls, never.

Back in the days she had that feeling about Julie and would had gladly refused to help her and let her make a remake of senior year since she seemed to enjoy it so much, but somehow her mother didn't share her plans.

Donna Smoak wanted her daughter to be happy and for her happiness meant being pretty, popular and hanging out with other pretty and popular girls, so when Felicity naively told her about Julie wanting to be friend with her she thought tables were finally turning for her little girl.

Felicity's mother used to be one of those girls, beautiful, popular and carefree and despite being now in her mid forties was still really proud of her looks.

She was petite but curvy and with her tight and colorful outfits she didn't go unnoticed. But Felicity was different. She was cute with her wavy blond hair and her bright blue eyes but she liked to hide behind her glasses and comfortable clothes, hoping not to get too much attention and the only girly trait she inherited from her mom was the love for colorful nail polish.

She also seemed to prefer technology to real people most of the times and that was what worried Donna the most, so when she saw a chance for Felicity to make what she thought were real and suitable friends she pushed her and she didn't have the heart to refuse, because she loved her mother, she really did.

Her father left when she was a little girl and she barely remembered him, so she grew up with her mother trying to fill his place too.

Donna worked hard not to let her daughter feel the void he left, like nothing had changed.

She supported her, loved her and made sure she had everything the other kids had, so Felicity couldn't blame her for being a little pushy, even if she wished they were more alike and that her mother would be satisfied with her grades, happy that she found something she loved in science and not worrying about her apparent lack of social skills.

Felicity had no idea what happened between her parents but what she remembered was the weekend after her father left. Her mother called sick from work and left her with a neighbor. When she came to pick her up on Sunday evening she was perfectly dressed and her make up was flawless as usual but she could see that her eyes were a little too shiny and slightly puffy, so she knew she had been crying.

After that day Felicity tried to ask if her father was going to come back home and even if her mother always told her that yes, one day he would, because he loved them both, she soon realized two things: that he was gone forever and that no one was going to love her like her mother did.

So now that she was once again with one of those beautiful mean girls she clamped down her instinct to jump out of the car and tried to be nice.

* * *

" I guess." Felicity answered reluctantly, nervously smoothing the wrinkles from her dress skirt.

"So what's the deal between you and Ollie?"

"What?" She turned sharply to look at Carrie, her eyes wide and she clumsily hit her head on the limousine's window. Felicity rubbed the sore spot groaning quite unladylike and she almost lost track of the conversation with her new friend.

"Come on dear. I saw the way you looked at each other at dinner and yesterday if he was free he would had spent the day with me, but I know he went to see you instead."

Felicity was dumbfounded. First of all she really wished Carrie would stop calling her dear because she wasn't her friend and by the look of it they weren't going to became friends anytime soon and what was supposed to mean the way they looked at each other?

She knew she was blushing and she silently cursed annoyed at her own body reaction.

She had never looked at him in any way, she could swear on it and Oliver hadn't either. Well, except when they met. But that was different, she would had been just one of the many, many girls he "looked" at back in the days, so it really didn't count. And yes, he came to see her after leaving Carrie, but there was no particular reason for doing that, no sordid affair, no anything. They hanged out together, it was normal. That's what people do.

"We simply work together." She looked out of the window hoping that her treacherous blush would fade away fast.

"Oh come on! I never met a woman who simply worked with Ollie."

"Well there had to be a first someday."

"I guess so." She still seemed unconvinced. Felicity eyed her from the corner of her eye, brows tilted upwards in a skeptical look. _Wow Oliver really must really had built a solid reputation._

Since Felicity fell silent and it was clear she would had stayed that way for the rest of the ride Carrie shifted in her seat so she could watch her more closely and smiled widely, trying to engage her in a conversation once again.

"You know if there is really nothing between you and Ollie we must find you someone tonight!"

"What?" Her answer came a little like a squeak and she cleared her throat before trying to speak more normally. "No thank you, I' m fine." She tried to laugh it off but she was afraid it still sounded sort of hysterical.

* * *

Even from outside the club Felicity could hear the basses. They were pumping strong and steady and she felt them in her ribcage.

She shifted uncomfortable on her feet. She never was a fan of clubs. She has always liked going out with friends but she was more the quiet type who enjoyed drinks at wine bars instead of being stuffed in crowded spaces full of handsy people and she winced at the thought of bouncing on her very high, very painful heels until the wee hours of the morning.

She sighed thinking at her comfy pajamas and fluffy slippers waiting for her at her hotel room. She was looking forward to a relaxing night, curled in bed watching tv, maybe after trying the luxurious jacuzzi she discovered in the bathroom.

She followed Carrie at the top of a long waiting line and she looked as she first waved at a bouncer and than stepped forward, swinging her hips confidently before smacking a kiss on his cheek.

He was in his thirties, tall with broad shoulders and a sharp, tailored suit. He was serious and vaguely intimidating, especially when he leveled the people in line with a steel look but his attitude was different, softer and more content, as he glanced at the redhead flirting with him, shooting her a sly smile.

He moved the rope that was blocking the entrance and waved his hand, motioning for the two girls to go inside.

Carrie slid her hand slowly down his arm, squeezing the muscles of his forearm before making her way inside, while Felicity hurried after her and the people in line groaned loudly.

* * *

The club was packed. The dance floor was full of people dancing and it took quite the effort to cut though the crowd and Felicity let out a relieved sigh as they reached a table on the side, close to the modern looking, optic white bar, a couple of steps above the floor so the four ladies sitting on the black leather couch were comfortable and close enough to the party without having to mingle with the mass of people.

"Ladies, this is Felicity. She came all the way from Starling City to have fun, so let's help her with that!" Carrie addressed the girls, after hugging them and kissing their cheeks, careful not to smug her make up.

Her loyal minions squealed in excitement at the introduction with their high pitched voices and Felicity flinched bringing her hands to rub her poor, sensitive ears.

She tried to muster a smile and waved awkwardly at the girls.

They were all really good looking, natural beauty mixed with that glamorous look which spelled money and that elegant, carefree attitude that Felicity was sure could never top.

Stephanie was a pretty brunette with a short fancy haircut and big blinding diamond earrings, Carla was the curvy one, long shiny black hair tossed on her shoulder and the most annoying laugh Felicity had ever heard. Penny was the snobbish one, who gave her a fake smile, quickly scanning Felicity's body before turning to her previous task of batting her eyelashes at the guys at the table beside them. Brooke was the only one who took a real interest in Felicity. She was a blonde too, with big green eyes and apparently she was in charge of the drinking.

She shoved a glass of champagne in Felicity's hand and started chatting easily like they had been friends since forever. She took a big gulp of her drink feeling uncomfortable. The girl seemed to make a real effort but hot clubs and party girls weren't her element and she rather listened than babbled, as she always did when she was nervous.

After the first round of drinks Brooke took off, promising her to bring back something special and she left her on the couch, while the other girls had gone dancing. She sighed and picked her phone out of her little clutch to quickly text Oliver.

* * *

"You are so gonna pay for leaving me with her!" Oliver opened Felicity's text and read the solitary line, chuckling softly, imagining the annoyed tone she would use if she was in front of him, while glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

He was truly sorry for leaving her with Carrie, but there hadn't been much he could do and he was sure Felicity was going to be fine, a night out clubbing had never killed anyone, he of all people should know.

* * *

Felicity hummed contently as she savored the bittersweet taste of her drink.

She felt the sweetness of the cherries mixed with the burning feeling of the alcohol and it was just perfect. She wasn't annoyed anymore and the loud music made her want to dance, spin and sing, even her shoes weren't hurting anymore. She probably had too many drinks, but she really couldn't say because she lost count.

She twirled the little bright colored umbrella the bartender put in the glass between her fingers and she gulped the rest of the drink and put the empty glass down loudly, smiling widely at Brooke, who just finished her drink, too.

Felicity laughed and tipped her head backwards, looking at the ceiling. They had gone dancing and now she was in the middle of the dance floor, happily swaying to the music.

She left her shawl and purse on the table, forgotten, but she took her phone, so she could take a picture of her and the girls, before tucking it safely in the side of her bra.

The chandelier on the roof were shining brightly in the darkness of the club, casting shadows over the dance floor. The rays were green, yellow, pink and were drawing geometrical patterns she couldn't make out because her head was spinning, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She was euphoric, happy and more carefree that she remembered being in a very long time.

* * *

Felicity felt one strong hand slowly sliding on her side, so she turned surprised and saw a man looking down at her with a smirk on his face. He was quite good looking even if her brain was a little fuzzy on the details. But she could definitely make out his piercing dark eyes and his nice smile.

"Hi! I' m Carter. I' m Brooke's friend." He tilted his head to a spot on his left and Felicity saw Brooke winking suggestively at her before disappearing in the crowd.

She looked back at him, blinking, unsure of what to say.

"She said you were looking for a little company."

Felicity laughed at that, nervously tugging at her dress. "No I- I' m good, thanks! It was nice meeting you though."

She tried to shake his hand clumsily but he kept his hold on hers even after she stopped.

"I would like my hand back now." She smiled but tried to free her hand more firmly.

"Come on, let's grab a drink."

"No, I"

"Felicity I' m a good guy, ok? It' s just a drink, no strings attached, don't worry."

She looked at him, he was smiling kindly, he didn't seem like a weird guy and he wasn't a total stranger since obviously was part of Carrie's group, so she let out a sigh, not wanting to be rude and she smiled lightly, nodding slowly in agreement.

Felicity sit in one of the high stools in front of the bar and grabbed her drink, a tropical something Carter insisted she had to try. She was starting to get comfortable when she felt one of his big, sweaty hands on her thigh. She cleared her throat, moving her leg so his hand fell on his side and stood, telling him she had to go to the bathroom and she quickly disappeared into the mass of people, before he could stop her.

She decided she was done for the night, so she went outside and spotted the car they used to come to the club. She knocked at the window, startling the driver.

He slid the window down and looked at her. "Miss?"

"Yes! Do you remember me? I' m Felicity. Smoak. Carrie's friend. Well not friend friend but-"

"Yes, miss. How can I help you?" "I need a ride." "Of course."

He opened the door for her and she gave him a grateful smile, before telling him her hotel's address.

* * *

She exited the car on unsteady feet and glanced around, blinking confused. She most definitely wasn't in front of her hotel and she was alone in a desert street. She looked back at the car, but it was already too far, the driver probably going back to the club to pick up Carrie and she had no idea what to do.

She looked back and forth at the road and shifting her arm she felt her phone, still tucked inside her bra and she took it out, trying to keep the dress in place with her other hand.

* * *

"Oliver!" She exclaimed and her voice seemed even louder due to the silence surrounding her.

"Felicity?" His voice was groggy and she heard him clearing his throat.

"I'm in front of the hotel, but there is no hotel." She started giggling at what she said. "That didn't sound like that in my head."

"What?" Oliver sounded confused and she tried to explain, suppressing the fit of laughter escaping her mouth.

"I'm in Lincoln Street, but there is no hotel."

For a moment she was met by silence than Oliver spoke again, his voice muffled. "Wait where you are."

* * *

"Oliver!" She squealed, trying to reach for him with her hand but she tripped on her feet and let out a loud yelp.

She waved her arms helplessly trying to avoid the fall and closed her eyes. When she didn't feel her face smacking on the ground she opened her eyes and looked up, to see Oliver close to her.

He had caught her by the waist and was looking at her, his eyebrows raised in a silent question.

She blinked at him and opened her mouth to speak but closed it fast when no witty remark came into her clouded mind.

She saw him smiling slightly and felt his other hand catching her arm, tugging her back on her feet, still keeping her close since he probably sensed she wasn't steady yet.

"You just had to turn the corner, the main entrance is that way." He said, pointing at the corner right behind his shoulders. She narrowed her eyes, trying to understand what he told her but for some reasons her brain couldn't catch up.

Despite her heels she was still shorter than him, her nose barely reaching the strong line of his jaw and she tipped her head to better see his face.

She was leaning heavily on him, her body flush against his, her hands on his broad shoulder, gripping the fabric of his shirt and one of his arms still holding her waist firmly, securing her against him.

In some remote recess of her brain she thought that probably she should stand up on her own. That being drunk in front of her boss was embarrassing enough without clinging on him like her life depended on it, but another part of herself was enjoying their closeness and the foreign feeling of warmth and content that spread in her far too much to make her wobbly legs move.

"Hey?" She snapped back to reality when she felt he gently squeezing her side to get her attention, his voice soft and she gazed into his eyes. "Mmmh?"

"Can you stand up?" At his question it was like a switch had been turned on and she looked at him with wide eyes, realizing what she was doing and felt her cheek burning, so she stood up, suddenly pushing on his chest and scrambling backwards with unsteady steps.

"Hey!" Oliver, despite his surprise at her quick change in demeanor, managed to get an hold on both her forearms, before she could step too out of reach.

"Felicity what are you doing? Calm down." He tried to soothe her, unable to keep from laughing at her bewilder expression.

Felicity let him pull her back towards him.

"You are drunk." He was watching her, clearly amused and she felt her heart speeding, her whole face red with embarrassment. "No I' m not!"

He shook his head, grinning, taunting her happily. "So you do have a wild side after all."

"Come on." She felt his strong arm encircling her waist once again as he moved to stand by her side to support her while waking towards the hotel.

* * *

The lobby was illuminated in dim lights but it was silent, deserted, she hadn't realized how late it must had been.

She snuggled closer without realizing it, letting him take most of her weight while she dragged her tired feet on the floor and she relaxed into his body with a content sigh, her eyes fluttering closed.

It was so good for once to just relay on someone. To not be the strong one, the responsible, reliable one and leave her walls down. And relay on someone who was warm, firm and smelled so great was just a plus.

"You are a lightweight."

"Yeah and I was born in Vegas. That' s disappointing." She mumbled, mostly to herself and kept her eyes closed while gesturing lazily with her hand, before hugging Oliver's chest more firmly when her sudden movement made her feel like the world was spinning wildly.

"Hey don't fall asleep on me." She could hear the smirk in Oliver's voice as he helped her into the elevator and if she had been sober she knew she would had protested, not letting him mock her, but she was too tired and too confused to even try.

"Here we are. Where is your key?"

"In my purse." She replied softly, already half asleep.

"Felicity you don't have your purse." It took a few seconds before his words made sense but when she realized what he had said she finally cracked her eyes open and took a step to distance herself from him.

"Oh? But-" She looked down at her hands, one holding her phone and the other one empty.

She frowned confused than she realized that in her haste to leave the club she had forgotten her purse on the table.

"My shawl too." "What?" She shook her head when she realized she said the last part out loud and cleared her throat. "I left my purse and shawl at the club."

"Ok." Oliver took his phone from his left pocket and searched for a number.

"What are you doing?" "I' m calling Carrie." He answered, starting the call. "We need to get your purse back and there is no one at the reception at this hour, it's past two."

"Oh." "Yes, oh." He said mimicking her stunned expression.

She watched him as he waited, impatiently tapping his foot on the floor. "She is not picking up."

"Oh. Damn, I really liked that shawl." She said under her breath, annoyed.

"Felicity, the key! We need you room key." "Yeah that too." She tried to think about what to do but she had a really hard time focusing. She was worrying her bottom lip angry at her brain for being so slow, but she had to admit that the hallway spinning was quite distracting.

"Hey!" She looked up at Oliver, smiling all of a sudden and she watched him giving her a confused glance.

"Hey! You can break down the door!" She was really excited at her idea. "You can totally do that! Like in the movies. Like that!" She moved to mimic a little kick but as soon as she raised her foot and tried to lean on one leg she remembered that her balance had never been great in general and her balance on heels with a lot of alcohol in her body was even worse.

She lost her footing, tripping backwards and fell on the floor with a loud thud.

"Felicity!" "Ouch, oh." She kept her eyes closed lightly rubbing the side of her thigh, trying to soothe the pain away.

"You okay?" "Yeah." She opened her eyes to find Oliver staring at her, crouched by her side and looking genuinely concerned.

"What do we do?" He let out a sigh and got up, offering her his hand to help.

"You are staying in my room, we will get your key back tomorrow."

"What?" She squealed trying to pull her hand free, but Oliver held on tight, guessing her reaction.

"Don't worry, Felicity. Contrary of what you think of me I can be a perfect gentleman." She heard the smile in his voice even if he had already turned around to lead her to his room, on the other end of the hallway.

He opened the door and let her in. She frowned, noticing that his room was a lot nicer that her own, something that shouldn't bother her since he was her boss but her drunken mind didn't like that anyway.

Finally she let out a sigh, bending to free her feet from the painful shoes. She felt Oliver's eyes on her as she struggled with the tiny troublesome strap locked on her ankle, refusing to be freed from the closure. She frowned at her shoe, annoyed, cursing under her breath.

"Here." She saw Oliver bending next to her to help. She was speechless as she watched him gentling prying her hands away and working on her shoes, slightly scowling as he focused on the task.

He held one foot, than the other and moved to look at her, smiling at her stunned expression.

Without speaking he gently took her hands and helped her up, his smile widening when he saw her clumsily stepping out of her heels and putting her bare feet on the carpet, now a whole head shorter than him.

Felicity saw him raising an eyebrow and scanning her body. "Are you going to sleep in that?"

She looked down at her dress, her beautiful, tight dress. She squirmed, a little uncomfortable and she saw quite a few stains on the smooth fabric, fresh reminders of her night out. She looked up at him again.

" I- I' m not sleeping in my underwear, with you. I mean I' m not sleeping sleeping with you in my underwear." She shook her head, trying to clear it. "I mean I wouldn't need any underwear to sleep with you, obviously. No wait I-"

" Felicity relax it's okay. I know what you mean." He grinned at her. " I think."

"Hey!" She raised her voice, frowning at him, her cheeks flushing.

Oliver just shook his head, heading for the closet and grabbing a soft t shirt and sweatpants. "Here. You should be more comfortable in those." "Yeah, thank you." She replied softly, avoiding to look at him.

She was glad to see that without her heels she could stand steady enough on her feet and held his clothes tightly to her chest, before turning and stepping slowly towards the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm sorry for taking so long to update but I have been really busy. I had a big exam on the 15th so I stopped writing for a while. I hope you like this chapter!**

Lililovingreading, IFancyu: Thanks! Sorry I couldn't update sooner!

Spitfire303: Thanks! And thank you for pointing out my mistake. English isn't my first language so sometimes I make mistakes and I don't even notice :)

* * *

Oliver woke up to the annoying feeling of something pressed on his face. He groaned and turned, rubbing his nose into something soft and warm, something that most definitely wasn't his bed sheets or anything else that was supposed to be in his bed.

His eyes shot open and he moved his head back, realizing that the offending object was a tiny palm, Felicity's palm. He smiled as he watched her lying beside him, sleeping peacefully.

Her head was buried into the fluffy pillow, a mess of blonde curls hiding her face. She had one arm stretched out on his chest and the other one hidden under her cheek.

She was lying on her stomach and he quickly realized, on his arm.

Oliver swallowed as he realized that during the night she must had moved around until she got rid of half of her clothes. He could feel soft, bare skin under his fingertips, his shirt rolled under her breasts and his too large sweatpants almost on her knees.

He tried to slide his arm from under her slowly, without waking her up, very well knowing that if she woke up with him like that she would freak out.

Oliver was carefully passing his hand on her ribs when he felt her shifting, probably ticklish, and he heard her mumbling softly in her sleep. He stilled but she didn't wake up.

She rolled on her side and cuddled closer to him instead, her hands landing on his chest, quickly followed by her head. Oliver took a quick breath when he felt Felicity rubbing her nose on his bare collarbone, her hot breath raising goosebumps on his skin.

He sighed and vowed to relax once again, shutting his eyes. If he had to be honest with himself having her pressed against him wasn't a feeling he was eager to get away from. She was soft and warm and her hair tickled his neck in a oddly pleasant way.

He used one hand to move her hair back from her face and couldn't resist twirling a soft curl between his thumb and index, smiling when he heard her sighing contentedly.

He closed his eyes, starting to drift back to sleep when he heard someone knocking on his door. For a moment he considered simply ignoring whoever was disturbing them but the knocking only seemed to get more persistent so he scoffed and raised slightly, bringing Felicity with him.

He carefully rolled her over but luckily she was a very heavy sleeper or her crazy night really did a number on her, so she didn't even stir and she just snuggled into her pillow when Oliver put her down.

He quickly got up and passed a hand through his hair, trying to fix them and reached the door with quick strides.

* * *

"Ollie!"

He jumped visibly once he got a good look at the person standing at the other side of his door.

Carrie was looking at him with a sweet, innocent smile. She stood there impeccably dressed and with her perfect make up. Nobody would guess how she had spent last night.

"Yeah?"

"So, may I came in?"

Her tone was low, suggestive and Oliver stood more straightly, casually blocking the way in, not sure he wanted to find out his ex girlfriend's reaction to Felicity, sleeping soundly in his bed.

He distinctly remembered screaming and trowing stuff during their brief relationship and he wasn't sure he wanted to test if she had changed.

"Sorry I didn't answer your call last night, I was busy. But I'm here now."

Oliver stilled as he heard someone softly moaning behind him.

He glanced at Carrie and put on what he hoped was his most charming smile. "Sorry. See you later, ok?"

He closed the door on her stunned face and rested his back on the door sighing loudly.

He watched as Felicity stretched in his bed, her arms raised above her head before she turned and hugged her pillow. Well, _his_ pillow, to be more precise.

He smiled and walked towards the bed, hands tucked in the pockets of his sweatpants. She was quite a vision. Hair tousled and half covering her face and all. He almost laughed when he saw her slightly pouting in her sleep.

Oliver shook his head amused and moved to poke her gently on her shoulder. "Hey."

She swatted his hand away and she grumbled while taking the sheet with her other hand and covering her face leaving just a bunch of messy blond curls in sight.

He laughed silently and gripped the sheet to uncover her face. "Felicity, wake up. Come on." He kept his tone low and soft, mindful of the probably massive headache she was gonna wake up to.

She tried to reach for the sheet blindly and whined adorably when she couldn't free it from Oliver's grip. Oliver put his hand on her bare shoulder and shook her gently.

Finally her eyes fluttered open and she watched him with a curious expression on her face. She was clearly confused to see him there and she brought a hand up to poke him on the cheek. He grinned amused by her puzzled face and waited until he saw realisation kicking in.

"Oh!"

She suddenly sat and then brought her hand to her forehead groaning loudly.

"Hey, take it easy."

"Why is my head trying to kill me?"

"Well, talking from experience I'd say it isn't happy with how much you drank last night."

She pouted at him. "That's not funny."

"Well it's a little funny." he shook his head. "I remember clearly you scolding me for showing up at work with a hangover and now.." He rose his eyebrows playfully at her.

"It's your evil ex girlfriend fault. Your taste in women is terrible."

"Oh really? Do I have to remind you that guy you dated last year? You have terrible taste in man."

She scoffed at him and made a grumpy face. "There was nothing wrong with Devon. I never understood why you didn't like him."

* * *

_A year ago_

_That had been a terrible, terrible day. He had to listen to three hours of incessant chattering about the QC balance sheet, which he had to admit it was an important issue, but as most of the things generally considered important by the majority of people he found it utterly boring._

_He had to skip lunch and he walked over to Felicity's desk grumbling under his breath._

_He stopped short as he saw her desk empty. That was new. He looked around and spotted a couple of the other Eas, who were at the meeting, chattering in the hall. "Excuse me, have you seen miss Smoak?"_

"_Sir! Mister Queen. Yes, she just left. I think she went to the cafè downstairs ."_

"_Thanks."_

_His stomach was hurting, so going to the cafè wasn't a bad idea after all, but she could have waited for him._

_He reached the counter and half smiled at the generous display of food. _

_He scratched his head wondering if he should pick up something for her too when he heard a feminine and very familiar laugh and he turned sharply at his right spotting a couple sitting beside the window._

_From his position he could only see the woman's back, but the signature high ponytail was unmistakable and that black tight dress was the same he spent a good part of his morning watching through the glass wall._

_He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the side to observe the man who was with Felicity while he started walking towards their table._

_He had curly black hair and a smile a bit too smug for Oliver's taste. _

_The man looked up at him curiously as he reached their table. "May we help you?"_

_He assumed he was an employee of the company so he was about to tell him that his break was over and to go back to work when Felicity turned to look at him too._

"_Oliver! What are you doing here?"_

"_I was looking for you. The meeting just ended and I wanted to grab something to eat."_

"_Oh." She looked from Oliver's wary face to the other man's open and curious one. "Well, you can join us if you like. I mean-" She turned to look at the other side of the table with a sweet smile that made Oliver's frown deepen."If you don't mind."_

"_I don't. Please join us."_

"_Great! Devon this is Oliver Queen, my boss. Oliver this is Devon, my boyfriend."_

_Her tone while she made the introduction was sweet and a little shy and her cheeks were colored in an attractive shade of pink. She shared a smile with her boyfriend and Oliver cleared his throat before making his way back to the bar, muttering annoyed under his breath._

* * *

"Well you broke up with him, so he wasn't that great after all."

Felicity narrowed her eyes at him but didn't answer.

"You never told me why you broke up with him." He pressured her gently.

"What? Oliver it happened over a year ago." She clearly wasn't keen to answer him, just like she wasn't when he had asked her the first time.

* * *

Oliver learned that Felicity was a really private person, totally different from the people he was used to back in the days. He usually shared every little detail of his life with his best friend Tommy, especially the most explicit ones with no reservation at all.

And the women in his life couldn't be called shy, not by a long shot.

He considered Felicity his friend but she was also a woman and he didn't know how to be around a woman who was just a friend and he was even more puzzled by the fact that this particular woman wasn't exactly thrilled with his company.

She dropped her eyes on her lap and yelped, before quickly snatching the sheets to cover her lower body, beet red.

Oliver laughed lightly at her embarrassment. "It's not like I don't know what there is under a woman's pants."

She glared at him and held the sheets more tightly. "Well I'm not interest in you seeing what there is under my pants so shoo." She looked resolutely at his chin, avoiding to make eye contact with him and she waved her free hand to motion him to go away.

He grinned and happily kept teasing her. "This is my room, you can't kick me out!"

"Oliver!"

She went for her signature Felicity Smoak judgmental face, the one that was her secret weapon when she wanted to keep him in line, but without her glasses, her hair a mess and in his clothes the effect was quite different.

He shook his head. "Okay. I will give you a minute. I'll grab an aspirin and a glass of water." She smiled grateful at him and he got up after squeezing her knee.

* * *

Oliver waited patiently for her sitting on the edge of his bed. He turned his head when he heard the bathroom door open and saw Felicity making her way back towards him. She had fixed her clothes and her hair were now neatly brushed behind her ears.

She looked around and started looking for something.

"What?"

"Where is my phone?"

"Well I suppose in your bag that you left at the club"

"Oh! Oh right!"

She looked down at herself. "I-I need to go back to the club to find my bag, but-"

"I'll call Carrie first. Maybe she grabbed it for you."

"Yeah, sure." Her tone was highly skeptical and he didn't even try to hide his amusement. "Do you think she is already awake though?"

"Yeah. She came by when you were asleep."

"What?" Felicity squealed. "Do you mean she was here, while I was there?" She gestured between herself and the bed and he nodded. She groaned loudly and put her hands to cover her eyes. "I can't believe it."

"Felicity."

"No! She already thinks we are sleeping together and now.. I used to have a reputation you know?"

"Well I wasn't the one who called totally wasted last night and lost her keys!"

She looked at him with wide eyes at his outburst.

"If it makes you feel any better I have a reputation too and she couldn't see your face from the door. She just knows there was a woman in my bed. Now I' m going to the reception to grab your spare key so you can get back to your room until we find your bag."

* * *

When he came back with her keys Felicity was pacing in front of the bed, twisting her hands in a nervous manner and once she saw him she took a deep, calming breath and started talking.

"Oliver I' m sorry. I' m grumpy because I haven't had a hangover in ages and I forgot how bad it was. I feel like someone hit my head with a baseball bat."

She laughed awkwardly trying to light up the atmosphere. "I didn't mean to blame you, it was all me, all my fault. And you are my boss so I was even more out of line. Thank you for helping me anyway."

"Felicity, it's fine."

"No, it's not. And what you said, about your reputation. You know it isn't true, don't you?"

Oliver shook his head, his hands closed tightly into fists. "It kind of is."

She just looked at him for a moment before reaching to take his fist in both her hands. His eyes shoot up to finally look at her and saw that she was smiling gently at him.

"No it's not. You have changed and we both know it."

He relaxed at her words and opened his hand so he could hold both her small hands in his. She stilled at the action and dropped her hands back at her sides. "I'm going to my room to change now."

"Ok."

* * *

"Hey Carrie."

"Ollie! How nice hearing from you." He could hear a hint of venom in her voice and he cringed inwardly. "I'm sorry to bother you but I met Felicity and she told me she lost her bag last night, so I offered to call you to see if you have it."

"Oh, so I guess it was Felicity who I saw this morning."

"No." He took a deep breath. "It wasn't her, Carrie. I went to see her a minute ago and she told me about the bag."

"Oh, really?" He could hear she didn't believe him. Well, he wasn't the best of liars after all. That was the main reason why Laurel caught him cheating every single time. Not that it taught him not to do it again anyway.

He cleared his throat. "So?"

"Yes, I have her bag. My friend Brooke grabbed it. Tell Felicity to meet me at the cafè down the street so I can give it back."

"Ok. Thank you, Carrie."

"No worries. Anyway it's better that there is nothing between the two of you, Carter would be jealous."

He was about to ask who the hell this Cater guy was when she hanged up.

* * *

Felicity was feeling definitely better. She had a nice, hot shower and with her ponytail and her glasses back in place she was starting to feel like herself again.

Her mood was so improved that she didn't even flinch when Oliver told her she had to meet Carrie and she didn't question the annoyed tone he used. He was clearly in a mood and she sighed, thinking back at his broody stance. She had lashed out at him that very morning so she decided to cut him some slack.

* * *

She spotted Carrie sitting at one of the tables, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor.

"Hi." She smiled politely and waved at her.

"Hi, dear!" Carrie got up immediately and kissed her cheek. "Come, sit."

Felicity sat down in the free chair a little uneasy. She had hoped she would be able to get her bag back and leave shortly after that, but clearly that wasn't the case.

Carrie was watching her with a smug smile and she shifted under her stare, feeling like she was a little fish and Carrie was a big shark with really sharp teeth and she was about to get eaten.

"So-" She looked at Carrie expectantly with a kind smile.

"Oh, right! Here you go."

"Thank you! I was so freaked out when I couldn't find it."

She checked the content of the bag, putting all the items on the table and smiled relieved when she made sure that everything was still in there.

She looked up, ready to leave but she saw Carrie looking at her with a knowing look in her face that she didn't like at all. "What?"

"Your room key."

"Yes. I- I asked the reception for a spare one last night."

"You are adorable. You don't have to worry, dear. Oliver told me everything. Carter will be disappointed though."

"Excuse me?"

Felicity eyed her with disbelief and she cursed inwardly because she could already feel her cheeks burning. _Screw her fair complexion._

"Well I don't blame you for keeping it a secret and I promise not to tell anyone. After all people might get the wrong idea."

"What wrong idea?"

"Well, Oliver is the CEO and you are a secretary. And it's no mystery his appreciation for a pretty girl."

Felicity just looked at her, her fingers gripping the hem of her skirt tightly. Oliver would never imply that there was something between them and trash her reputation like that. And not with that woman of all people!

Of course her treacherous sharp memory reminded her that once he did exactly something like that.

* * *

_Two years ago_

_It was her second week as Oliver Queen's, the new CEO, EA and she was almost ready to give up. If nature hadn't gifted her with both stubbornness and loyalty she would had given her resignation and left for bigger and better things. _

_But she was indeed too stubborn. She had worked hard for that job and she wasn't going to give up just because some spoiled rich boy preferred to flirt with her instead of working. And most of all his father gave her her first internship and her first job out of college and she felt like she owned him._

_Robert Queen had been one of the few people who recognized her talent despite her quirks, so in spite of Oliver's flaws she wasn't going to abandon her mentor's son. After all, no matter his cocky attitude the corporate world was full of sharks and he was going to need her help._

_She stopped when she heard Oliver's voice and watched curiously through the glass wall. He was laughing with a young man she had never seen before. _

_She had only met one of Oliver's friends, his best friend Tommy Merlyn, who came into his office the first day of work with a bottle of Dom and a charming grin which spelled trouble._

_She was about to turn around and give them some privacy when she heard her name and realized they were talking about her._

"_Felicity is such an odd name, but she is a knockout man. Are you telling me you two haven't?"_

_She could hear her hearth beating loudly and she stood there, frozen, afraid to get caught eavesdropping if she moved._

"_She works at the company."_

"_It never stopped you before. Well that's my lucky day than, I guess. I can't wait to see what there is beyond that good girl look."_

_Felicity couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was so tempted to walk through that door and put that guy in his place, preferably with a healthy amount of violence, but she was a professional and she wasn't going to dignify him with a reaction._

"_Actually Trevor I lied before. But now that I'm the CEO I must keep a low profile, you know?"_

"_I knew it man! Well that's too bad. Enjoy her while you have her, than she is fair game."_

_Felicity was trembling with anger. That was too much. How dare they speak about her like that? That was one of the most humiliating moments of her life and she wasn't about to let it slide. She took a deep, calming breath and steeled herself._

_She turned around and marched towards Oliver's office. She pushed the door open and she didn't even bother looking at his friend but kept her eyes solely on Oliver. "Mister Queen, may I have a word? Now."_

_Oliver looked at her with raised eyebrows but he clearly saw that something was wrong so he sat straight in his chair and fixed his jacket. His friend got up quickly. "See you later, man."_

"_Miss Smoak." He winked at her but she didn't even spare him a glance and waited until he was out of the office._

"_I understand that you are used to women swooning for you, but I am not one of them. I' m an employee of this company and as such I want to be treated with respect, even if I wear a skirt."_

_Than she turned and made her exit quickly because she could feel tears forming in her eyes and she wasn't going to cry in front of him, no matter what._

"_Felicity it's not like that."_

_She didn't stop and she got quickly inside the elevator. She chocked a sob when she saw the door closing but Oliver quickly put his hand between the doors, stopping her escape._

"_I said what I have to so he would leave you alone. He is." He shook his head. "I know the kind of guy he is and I wanted him to leave you alone."_

"_I can take care of myself." She meant to use a harsh tone but it came out a little too weak and she frowned, annoyed at herself._

"_Okay. I' m sorry." _

_She was keeping her gaze on his shoes and she almost sighed relieved when she saw him stepping back._

"_Felicity. You have to know I do. I do respect you."_

_Her eyes flew on their own accord on his face as he took his hand away from the elevator's door and she was shocked to see how earnest he seemed._

* * *

That day, even if it had been terribly humiliating was in the past. She forgave him and they moved on. He wasn't the same person, she knew that.

"If I can give you a piece of advice don't get too attached dear. I, of all people, know what I' m talking about. He gets tired easily, I am the proof of that. When I found out he was coming here I hoped he hadn't forgotten about me, but it was like I never existed."

Felicity looked at Carrie. She seemed sincere and for the first time she wondered if she cared or had cared genuinely for Oliver and she had dismissed her too easily judging her without even knowing her.

"I'm sorry if Oliver hurt you, but you must have misunderstood him. There is nothing between us, there never was. Thank you for the bag."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Thanks everyone for reading and supporting the story..It means a lot and makes me want to write more.. I hope you like this one!

* * *

Lililovingreading: Thank you! I' m glad you enjoy the story!

Inspirechangesa: Hi! Thanks, I' m happy you like the story and I hope you keep reading!

* * *

Felicity went to see Oliver shortly after her meeting with Carrie. She had realized she had been so distracted that morning that she had forgotten to ask him about the rest of his night.

Oliver had had the opportunity to close the deal with Richard Wright the previous night and she was eager to know if he had succeeded.

She was also eager to go back to Starling City, really really eager. Between handsy middle age man and crazy ex girlfriends that trip wasn't going as planned and Felicity wasn't a big fan of surprises, she never was.

They were supposed to deal with a business man. A shady and ruthless one maybe, but a business man nonetheless and things were never supposed to become personal.

But he happened to be also Oliver's ex girlfriend's father and that was a possible and unwanted complication. And that girl wasn't who she expected her to be, as well. Carrie was undoubtedly a scheming mean girl, but she wasn't just that.

That morning Felicity saw a new side of her. Under that shallow exterior there was more, there was a real person with real feelings and that triggered something in her.

Her mother would say she was naïve and that wouldn't get her very far in life.

Maybe that was true, it probably was true, but she couldn't help trying to see the best in people and she wasn't going to apologize for who she was.

* * *

"So, did Mr Wright agree on the terms?" She asked expectantly, sitting on the edge of the chair in front of the table he was working on, her hands leaning on the little space left free from the documents he was examining.

"He wasn't that willing to talk about the deal." Oliver spoke in a tight voice, his eyes never moving from the pages, even if she could see he wasn't reading them because his eyes were fixed on one single spot.

"What? Why?" She was surprised to say the least. And disappointed, a lot. She also noticed that Oliver seemed quite disgruntled too if the scowl on his face was of any indication.

Oliver grumbled something under his breath she was unable to understand and she frowned. A little bad mood was okay, she could deal with that, but he had been sulking since he had called her about her meeting with Carrie and she truly couldn't understand why.

She knew she had offended him that morning but she had apologized and she thought he had forgiven her. Now, seeing how grumpy he was, she wasn't that sure.

"Oliver?"

"Well probably he would have been more willing if you were there." He mumbled stubbornly and Felicity huffed with exasperation, crossing her arms across her middle. He could be such a child sometimes.

"I doubt he would want to discuss _the deal _with me, if you know what I mean."

She tried to joke, her voice light and teasing and she hoped to get at least a little smile out of him but his mouth didn't as much as twitched. "What is wrong with you?"

"Excuse me?"

"I know I was horrible to you this morning but I apologized and I thought we were ok."

"We are."

Felicity looked at him incredulously, tapping her foot on the floor in a nervous manner. She stayed silent for a moment, torn between calling him out of his lie or leaving him alone.

She hated when he was being boneheaded, probably because she, being stubborn herself, sometimes just couldn't let it go.

On the other hand she still felt a little guilty for her behavior that morning.

Oliver had been nothing but kind and understanding, he took care of her and she couldn't deny she was more than a little touched by his thoughtfulness. So she sighed deeply and decided that for once, just this time he deserved to have it his way.

"Ok. Do you want me to go?"

She hated that there was a little tremor in her voice. She knew how childish it was but Oliver giving her the cold shoulder was hurting her more than she was willing to admit.

He seemed to realize she was a little distressed and he raised his head to look at her, frowning and when he spoke his voice was softer, gentler.

"No. I' m sorry. He said he will get the proposal through his lawyers first before considering it. That will take a week."

She smiled, feeling a little lighter. "I see. Well, it's a good project. It's innovative and financially solid. Don't worry about it."

Felicity was relieved. He probably wasn't even mad at her. He had invested a great deal of work in this deal, they all did and he must be feeling the pressure.

She looked at his bowed head and, not for the first time, she was stunned by how much he had changed since she had first met him. He seemed like a totally different person.

The Oliver Queen of five years ago was carefree and arrogant. He used to do anything to skim responsibilities and didn't take anything serious. But his world had been put upside down by his father's death and willing or not he had to step up, to grow up.

* * *

_Five years ago_

_It was her first day at Robert Queen's EA and Felicity was terribly nervous. It was who she was, she couldn't help it. She was a worrier._

_During her last year at MIT she had gotten an internship at Queen Consolidate, the very best company in the IT field and from that moment she had dreamed to get a job there. They frequently took care of innovative projects and they were famous for investing in young promising graduates._

_She had had very little responsibility during her internship, she was a simple IT girl, but that was to be expected, since she wasn't even graduated yet, but she had hoped that in the future they could better value her talent._

_She had left her resume, hoping to be called back and a week after she had graduated she was. _

_She got an interview along with some of the most brilliant graduates for a few openings in various departments of the company. _

_Robert Queen was present at all interviews. Later he explained her that you don't build a company from scratch without being involved in every aspect of it, nothing it's too low if you are the CEO, because if you are in charge everything and everyone is your responsibility._

_He had been impressed by her interview, even if she was sure she had made a tremendous impression. She had started babbling helplessly and that night she had to drown her sorrows in a whole pint of mint chip ice cream, trying to cope with the awful experience._

_He had made his head of staff call her back and once she was sitting in his office he had given her a choice: getting the job as a simple IT girl and probably never becoming anything more, or being his EA and, after having proved herself in front of him and the board, lead a new project of her choice in her area of expertise._

_Felicity had been shocked at first. She, an executive assistant? No way in hell. She went to MIT for God's sake! She worked really hard to get where she was and it wasn't so she could fetch some pretentious business man coffee._

_But the temptation, oh the temptation was big, and hard to resist._

_After all developing her own project had been what had made her try for the job in the first place, so she had swallowed her pride, trying with very poor success not to imagine her mother condescend smile if only she knew and had decided to take the job._

* * *

_That morning she took her time in finding the perfect and professional outfit. She decided against her beloved comfy panda flats and chose a dress which she thought was serious enough, even if it had a tiny bass hounds fantasy, but it was black, so it seemed like a good compromise._

_She was so engrossed in scanning the daily schedule on her laptop, trying not to mess up the appointments for the day, that she didn't notice that someone was hovering over her desk until she saw a hand landing on her desk, on the side of the computer and she jolted slightly, bringing her eyes up._

_She visibly blushed when she set her eyes on a young man peering down at her , a couple of inches from her face, definitely too close for comfort and with a cocky smirk on his handsome face._

_She thought he had the most piercing baby blue eyes she had ever seen, clear and bright and in that moment ridden with mischief. _

_As he noticed her blush he started grinning more openly and Felicity shook herself and pushed up her glasses in a nervous habit._

"_May I- May I help you?"_

_She straightened her pose on the chair, effectively putting some distance between them and she hoped she had used a professional and detached tone._

_He only seemed to find her words amusing and he leaned closer to her, putting both his elbows on her desk and speaking in a low, husky tone that made even her ears go aflame._

"_Yes, you can."_

_She closed her mouth tightly, feeling an extent and possibly disastrously humiliating babble fighting to come out._

* * *

"_Oliver, son, here you are."_

_Robert Queen walked through the hall, briefly glancing at them, his main focus on the document he was scrolling in his hands and she looked with wide eyes between her boss and the, not so mysterious anymore, guy._

"_Saved by the bell."_

_Oliver spoke in a whisper and after a slow perusal of her body he winked at her and followed his father inside the office._

_She let out a deep breath and couldn't help staring at his retreating back, her mouth open in disbelief. Once they were inside the office she shook herself and started rubbing the top of her ears, trying to cool them, annoyed at herself._

_So he was her boss's son, Oliver. _

_She knew the Queen kids by name, everybody in Starling City did. They were some kind of celebrities and their pictures were often in magazines. They even made the news from time to time. _

_Thea, the youngest, was thirteen and she was mainly known for the cloture dresses she wore at the high society event she went with her mother, while Oliver was every paparazzi dream, supplying the tabloids weekly with a new hot supermodel girlfriend or a wild night in the city._

_Felicity never bothered with gossip so she didn't read what they wrote about him in the columns but she wasn't blind or deaf, so she got the general picture. But she had never thought nor she had ever been interested in meeting him in real life._

* * *

"_Sorry if I made you wait."_

"_Excuse me?" Felicity turned to look at Oliver with raised eyebrows._

"_It's your lucky day, I' m taking you out for coffee."_

_Felicity looked at him, speechless, and she took in his smug and arrogant smile. _

_Was he hitting on her? What was he thinking? Did women usually leave their jobs at any time of the day or night to run away with him? Judging by his confident expression probably the answer was yes._

_She put on her most pleasant smile, schooling her expression, realizing that insulting the boss's son wasn't probably the wisest move for her brand new carrier._

"_I'm going to pass. Thank you, though."_

_Oliver looked at her dumbfounded. She realized that he probably had never been turned down before and having someone like her not swooning for him must be a new and very shocking experience._

"_Should I be offended that you choose my dad over me?" Obviously he wasn't to be discouraged so easily and he quickly let out his easy smile again._

"_No. Because it should be obvious that I choose him."_

_She looked at him and than paused, horrified, because of course she was going to blurt out something like this._

"_No, wait! I don't 'choose' choose him. I choose him because he is my boss."_

_More she babbled the redder she became and he was watching her, that magnetic blue eyes glued on her face and his eyebrows raised. There was a twinkling in his eyes, though, like he found her entertaining. Weird probably, but entertaining._

"_That's not what I mean." She clarified, closing her eyes and hoping the ground would swallow her and her obviously faulty brain._

"_I sure hope not." He smiled widely at her and she spotted dimples in his cheeks._

"_Will you just go please?"_

"_That's usually not what women tell me to do." His tone was teasing but she had the feeling there was a lot of truth in that statement._

"_Well you should go find one of them, then. There are plenty around."_

"_Not as cute as you."_

* * *

"_Oliver, what are you doing?"_

_They both turned to see Robert Queen looking at them from the half open door of his office, an unamused look on his face._

"_Nothing, dad." Oliver turned to look at his father, hands stuffed in his pockets and an innocent look on his face._

"_I thought you had to leave to pick up Laurel."_

"_Yeah, I' m going." She saw him scratching the back of his head, his smiles faltering slightly, looking like he actually felt guilty._

"_Good."_

_Oliver nodded at his father, than turned to look at her, grin back in his place."Goodbye-"_

_He paused and look at her expectantly and she decided it was just common courtesy to reply and she answered his unspoken question because she had good manners, no other reason._

"_Felicity."_

"_Goodbye Felicity." He spoke her name slowly, like he was trying to get used to the sound of it, than gave her a last smile before turning to leave._

* * *

"_I hope my son wasn't bothering you miss Smoak."_

"_No, sir, of course not."_

"_I love my son but-" He took a deep breath and looked at her seriously. "You are a good girl. Look out for yourself, will you?"_

* * *

She was lost in her thoughts and she smiled softly at the memory.

"What?"

She shook herself and look at Oliver, who had raised his head to watch her and she realized she must have zoned out.

"Once he warned me against you."

Oliver looked at her quizzically and frowned visibly, leaving the document he was examining on the table, obviously unable to follow her train of thoughts. "Who?"

"Your dad." She answered, grinning broadly at his genuine confusion.

"My father? Seriously?" He shook his head and laughed quietly. "Why would he do that?"

She looked at him, trying to stifle a smile and tilted her head to the side. "What do you think?"

He gave her a mock offended look and was about to answer when they heard a decisive knock on the door and they both turned.

* * *

"Come in!"

"Hi Ollie!" Carrie walked inside the room, eyes fixed solely on Oliver, than she spotted Felicity sitting in front of him and her smile faltered a little. "Felicity."

"Hi." Felicity waved at her kindly, while Oliver had a very wary look on his face.

"Carrie."

Carrie took a couple of steps, coming closer to the table, showing off her lean long legs and Felicity let out a sigh, observing her. She was walking on her heels with a grace she won't ever be able to match.

"Dad told me you will be staying in Central City for the week." She spoke softly, battling her eyelashes at Oliver and playing with the hem of her very short dress and Felicity felt suddenly awkward, like she was intruding in a private moment.

"Yes. His lawyers are going through the proposal." Oliver's tone was clipped, though and he gave Carrie a tight smile.

"Good, than you are free for lunch. Do you remember that little sushi place down the river, Ollie? I have a table for two."

"I-I" He cleared his throat and shifted his look between her and Felicity.

"He is free." Felicity stepped in, looking at Carrie and smiling kindly, before looking at Oliver who was watching her like she was crazy. "You are free, you should go."

"Great! I'm seeing you at one, then!" Carrie tucked a lock behind her ear and gave him a smug smile, her perfect white teeth peeking through her deep red painted lips.

Oliver seemed to have momentarily lost his ability to speak so he gave her a slow, tentative nod, but she didn't seem to mind and she happily walked out of the room.

Felicity watched her leave and turned to look at Oliver only when she heard him speaking. "Why?"

"What?" She frowned a little and moved a hand to smooth her ponytail unnecessarily.

"Why did you do that?"

"Did what?"

He gave her an incredulous look and leaned in his chair, his arm crossed on his stomach.

"Well we don't have the deal, yet, so being nice to her doesn't hurt."

"Really?"

"Yes. And I-I think she really cares for you."

He shook his head, smiling a little and she rose her voice, speaking more loudly. "She does! And we all need someone who cares for us."

He was watching her like he could see her very soul and Felicity shifted under his intense stare. She couldn't meet his eyes and when she spoke she used a soft, lower tone, keeping her focus on her hands, twisting on her lap.

"You have been taking all those burdens on yourself alone. The company, your family. You aren't letting anyone in and you can't keep doing that. You obviously liked her in the past and I think she is a good person. You can be the CEO and have a private life, too."

She felt like maybe she was overstepping boundaries and she became more and more nervous as he kept quiet.

"Just stick to one woman at a time and keep your clothes on in public. She is here, you are here. I' m just saying you have to start somewhere."

She finally looked up, his silence was killing her and she had to see his face. When he spotted her watching him Oliver gave her a lopsided smile, but she could see it was tight and forced.

He was clearly feeling awkward and uncomfortable and Felicity wasn't surprised when he quickly changed the subject.

"What will you do? For lunch."

She shrugged and leaned on the back of her chair, crossing her legs and getting more comfortable. "I don't know. Maybe I' ll try a restaurant close by."

"Come with us."

"Oliver, no!" She blushed slightly and tensed again. "I don't want to be the third wheel on your date."

"You wouldn't be the third wheel because this isn't a date. This is a lunch and my EA arranged it. I don't make her ask out women for me, I like to charm them myself." He gave her a little smile an she was glad to see that it seemed more genuine this time, so she smiled and teased him lightly.

"Well to be fair this time you made her do all the work, but still, this is a date."

She could see the wheels turning inside his head and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear what he could come up with to convince her.

"She invited you, not me. We can have dinner, tonight. If you like."

"Yeah, I' d like that."

"Good, then. We will discuss your 'date' date tonight, because _we_ are friends. 'Friends' friends."

He smiled at her, like he found her choice of words amusing and there was a gleam in his eyes she was all too familiar with and had learned to be wary of during the last two years.

She almost regretted offering to have dinner with him that night.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Thanks everyone for supporting the story. I had this chapter mostly written since the day before the premiere but I couldn't complete it until I watched the premiere a gazillion times. I hope you guys understand.

* * *

Misspsycho24: On some level Carrie is definitely manipulating Felicity, but I think she really likes Oliver in her own way. That doesn't mean she is the right person for him, thought! I totally agree with you on Felicity :) I hope you keep reading!

MrsLMGallego: Thanks! I will do my best!

Guest: I'm sorry Oliver staying in Central City bugs you but to be honest I didn't give it much thought, I didn't consider it a problem. On the show when he is the CEO he is never at the company and his father was the CEO when he left on the Gambit, so he was planning to stay away for several weeks. In this case it's just a week so I think he would be allowed to stay there if the deal is important for the company while someone, like a vice president takes over.

I understand what you are saying but I didn't think about it because I didn't consider it a issue.

Gin2a: Thank you!

* * *

Oliver got out of the cab reluctantly, slowly closing his jacket's top bottom. He had to be at the restaurant ten minutes ago for his lunch with Carrie but he had been torn between coming up with an excuse and going until the last minute and now he was late.

Two years ago he would probably had given her a flimsy line, not caring about the possible consequences and even less about hurting her feelings.

The knowledge that this would be something the old him would had done was mainly what prompted him to go, unwilling to do the same mistakes over and over again.

He knew if he didn't go he would disappoint himself and other people, too. People he cared about.

His mother, who had started to count on him. His sister, who loved him stubbornly, persistently, even when he didn't deserve it.

Felicity. Of course he didn't want to upset her. She had been the one person he could always count on during the last two years, this hard, rocky two years.

The one who believed in him, when even himself didn't, to push him to be better, more responsible, less selfish. The more time he spent with her the more he wanted to gain her respect, her praises, because he knew how much it would mean to be considered a good man by someone like her.

* * *

He didn't realize it at first but he had tried to impress Felicity since the first day they met.

Obviously at first he had approached her like he usually did with women, with charm and arrogance, but he had soon discovered that Felicity Smoak wasn't like any other women.

She had turned him down the first time he had asked her out and he shouldn't had been so disappointed, he was dating Laurel after all.

Then when they had started working together he had tried to talk her into ditching the office with him, his most seductive smile in place, but she had made him a speech about responsibilities instead.

Seeing a girl, a few years younger than him, scolding him for being selfish and irresponsible had definitely struck something in Oliver. He had called it pride at the time.

She had warmed up to him eventually. He had soon learned that Felicity had a kind, forgiving heart and even if she was wary of him she didn't stop trying to help him the best she could.

He couldn't tell if it was out of loyalty towards his father or because she felt sorry for what had happened to him but she had stayed as his EA.

Slowly but surely she had started smiling more at his antics, blushing adorably when he leaned closer to her on purpose and suddenly Oliver had had a new and appealing reason to come to work.

After a while though he had understood that no matter how charming he could be, no matter if he brought her coffee in the morning, no matter if he ditched his friends in order to complete all the paper works he couldn't get her to really like him, not the way he wanted anyway.

He had also started to enjoy his job.

Queen Consolidated was his father's company and even if he couldn't help but still resent the way he had humiliated his family he couldn't deny the surge of pride at the knowledge that he had built the company on his own until it became one of the greatest.

That didn't mean he couldn't behave like an immature child from time to time, though. He still wasn't sure he was the right person to run the company and part of him knew everyone was just waiting for the other shoe to drop and sometimes he couldn't help but agree with them.

The night before the first meeting he had to attend as CEO he couldn't shake the idea that the board members were going to see him as a kid playing CEO and he had let Tommy convince him to go out to blow off some steam.

They were supposed to stay out only a couple of hours, but after they got into the second club his memory was more than a little fuzzy.

* * *

_Two years ago_

_Felicity was pacing restlessly in front of the conference room, cellphone in her hand, trying to look collected and calm since the board members could see her, courtesy of the glass walls._

_She had been calling Oliver for a whole hour and he was now officially forty minutes late for his first meeting as CEO._

_She had provided coffee and bagels for the board members and she had assured them in her most reassuring tone that Mr Queen was going to be there shortly._

_But now she wasn't so sure. She had tried his cellphone and even his house's phone but nobody had picked up._

_She pressed the close bottom on the screen forcefully, ending the call and gritting her teeth. She gave one last look at the conference room door, than she made her decision._

_She had decided to stick as his EA and she wasn't going to give up at the first difficulty. _

_She grabbed her purse and reached the elevator with quick strides. _

_Fifteens minutes later she was at the Queen Mansion's gates and she was almost starting to regret her plan when a security guard approached her car._

_She rolled her window down and she put on her most pleasant smile, despite the guard stoic attitude._

"_May I help you miss?"_

"_Yes. I' m here to pick up Mister Queen."_

_She saw the man arching an eyebrow and she realized he was doubtful about her intention even if she couldn't see his eyes through his black sunglasses._

"_Look-"_

"_Diggle."_

"_Mister Diggle I know you must see lots of women trying to break in to see Oliver, but I assure you I am not one of them. My name is Felicity Smoak and I' m his executive assistant, God help me._

_Unfortunately it's my job to drag his ass at work, where he should be right now! And frankly I hope I don't look like one of his flashy fan girls-"_

_She stopped as she saw Diggle chuckling. He was watching her with amusement and she cleared her throat and tried to flatten her ponytail, feeling awkward._

"_You don't look like one of them, too much sense of humor."_

"_Thank you." She mumbled._

_She watched him say a few words in a device before tilting his head towards her to motion her inside._

* * *

_She watched with wide eyes the extent of the property. The lawn was large and perfectly cured and as soon as she saw the house she had to swallow a curse. Because holy crap. This wasn't a house, it was a freaking castle._

_She stepped out of the car and while she was mentally estimating how many times her house could fit in that thing she heard someone clearing his throat loudly behind her._

"_Ready miss Smoak?"_

"_Yes, thank you."_

_She couldn't help glancing around in wonder. She had never seen a place that beautiful before. Even if she probably wouldn't trade her comfy house for this one. There was just something about that place, like a sense of coldness, of emptiness that a house can't have to be called a home._

"_I'm sorry, Miss Smoak, but Mr Queen can't be disturb at the moment."_

_Felicity turned to look at the maid who had been sent to speak with her. She was middle aged with a kind, maternal appearance and she spoke in a soft, warm voice, colored by a strong Russian accent._

"_What? What do you mean? He has a job. I-" She shook herself. "Where is he?"_

"_He is still sleeping, he was up late last night, he is probably tired."_

"_Yeah, well. That's too bad. Please can you wake him?"_

"_Miss I-"_

"_Ok, I see. I- I' m doing it then."_

_She resolutely marched out of the room and climbed the stairs, but then she stopped in a long hallway with doors to her left and to her right._

_She had no idea which one was Oliver's room and she wasn't going to bolt into every single one of them. With her luck she would probably walk in Moira Queen changing._

"_Who are you?"_

_She turned to see a teenager dressed in a fancy school uniform scrutinizing her with a deep frown on her pretty face._

_"Felicity."_

"_Is it supposed to mean anything?"_

"_Yes. No. I mean, I work with Mr Queen. I' m here to pick him up. He is supposed to be in a meeting right now."_

"_Well good luck with that. If you can drag Ollie's drank ass out of bed and to the office let your credentials downstairs, we may need you here."_

"_T-Thanks, I guess."_

"_This way."_

_She guided her to a room at the end of a long hallway and she gave her a little, insincere smile before turning and going back to where she came from, without another word._

_Felicity opened the door slowly, with a little trepidation and took a look inside._

_Oliver was spread in the middle of his bed, laying on his stomach, shirtless and with the silk sheets tangled around his middle and legs. She sucked in a breath and before stepping towards the bed she hoped with all her heart that he was wearing something, anything, under that sheet._

_She cleared her throat and called his name in a loud, strong voice, making sure he could hear her from her place at the foot of his bed._

_He didn't even stir. He had his head buried in an incredibly fluffy pillow and she let out a huff of exasperation before moving close to his side to nudge him tentatively on his shoulder blade. _

_She poked him twice, noticing his really, really firm muscles, even firmer that she had expected. Not that she had imagined touching him, or maybe she had. Because let's face it, she was only human and she had eyes._

"_Oliver." _

_Felicity called him again and she pushed him strongly this time. He shifted, his low groan swallowed by the pillow and he flung a long arm around, catching her wrist and tugging her towards him while he turned on his side to face her._

_He had a deep frown on his face, his eyes still half closed and he searched her face, clearly confused to see her there._

"_What are you doing here?"_

_His voice was raspy and groggy with sleep and made her shiver involuntarily._

"_I'm here to pick you up."_

"_I only accept dates on reasonable hours." He smiled smugly at her. "Come back tonight and I' m taking you out."_

_Felicity blushed, both flustered at his closeness and deeply annoyed at his words._

"_First of all this is a reasonable hour and I' m not going out with you, not tonight, not any other day, reasonable hour or not."_

"_Oh really?" She watched him lifting an eyebrow, his smug smile still in place. "What are you doing in my bedroom than?"_

"_I'm here to take you to the board meeting! That FYI should had started almost two hours ago!"_

_He groaned loudly and let go of her arm to turn on the other side. "You can't be serious."_

"_I'm deadly serious. Come on, get up."_

"_I'm going to the next one."_

"_No, mister, you are going to this one."_

_She sighed when she realized he wasn't going to answer, probably hoping to go back to sleep. Since the stern approach wasn't working, at all, she opted for a softer, kinder voice._

"_Oliver, please. You promised me, remember?"_

_She finally got a grunt out of him and she smiled smugly, nudging his arm with her knuckles. _

"_You said that if I arranged your meetings so you could go out with Tommy yesterday you would come today. You promised me."_

_She saw his shoulders tensing slightly as he took a deep breath. She kept silent, hoping that she had made him feel guilty enough and she almost grinned when she saw him raising on his elbows to look at her, a very annoyed expression on his face._

"_Fine, you win. I' ll be out in a minute." He got up and took the sheet with him, making Felicity doubt once again that he was dressed under there._

"_Great! And take a shower ok?"_

_He gave her an unamused look and she just smiled before moving to wait for him in the hallway._

* * *

Carrie was waiting for him, twirling her long locks between her fingers, her dark red fingernails mixing perfectly with the warm shade of red of her hair.

She had an annoyed look on her face and a half empty glass of champagne in front of her.

Oliver sighed resigned, walking slowly to the table and smiled unenthusiastically at her warm greeting.

The sushi was delicious, the best in town, and Oliver relaxed slightly, almost forgetting about who he was having lunch with.

"This is lovely, isn't it?"

"Yes, the food is really good."

She let out a musical, even if a little high pitched, laugh. "No silly! I wasn't talking about the food and I think you know that. We never had any trouble understanding each other."

She spoke in a low voice, before bringing the flute on her lips, licking an errand drop of champagne from the corner of her bottom lip, smiling sweetly at him.

Oliver observed her, frowning. She was a beautiful woman, with a perfect body, a pretty face. But she was just wrong. She felt wrong, wrong for him.

"Carrie, I think we need to talk."

"Okay, sure. What do you want to talk about?"

"Us." He said simply.

She smiled brightly at him and put the flute down on the table. "I knew it, I knew you felt it too. For a moment I thought you were-" She stopped, shaking her head, before speaking again, her tone enthusiastic. "But you aren't. My mistake. Good."

"You thought I was what?" He asked her, suddenly very eager to know what she was about to say, his heart speeding.

"It doesn't matter now." She slid her hand on her table to grab his but he slowly took his out of reach, shaking his head, apologetically.

He watched as her face changed in an instant. Her warm, seductive smile fell from her lips and she straightened in her chair, her face stony and cold.

"Carrie, I-"

"No! You don't get to reject me!"

He stared speechless while angry tears formed in her eyes and she bolted, pushing her chair back.

"You are going to regret this!"

She yelled at him, her face red with anger, her voice clear in the stunned silence inside the little restaurant, before grabbing her purse with shaky hands and walking out, her dramatic exit followed by the curious looks of the other customers.

Oliver didn't move, his gaze on the chair in front of him and as soon as he heard the door slamming behind him he passed a hand on his eyes, tired, even if a little relieved.

He thought that probably she was going to see her father, to try to make him call off the deal to get back at him.

That would be a terrible news for the company and once again it would be on him, on the mistakes he had made in the past.

If he had been more respectful of Carrie in the first place this wouldn't happen. But he couldn't undo what he did in the past and the only thing he could do today was being honest and truthful with her and refusing to use her for the benefit of his company.

* * *

_Six years ago_

_Oliver sluggishly unfastened the top bottoms of his shirt, feeling too hot in the crowded club. _

_He and Tommy had just decided to drop out of the latest college their parents sent them to and took his father's new Lamborghini for a ride to Central City to celebrate. They had tried all the parties and even joined a frat, but they soon got bored and came back to Starling City with no plans of coming back._

_Obviously his parents didn't know that yet and Oliver thought that a night out was exactly what he needed before telling them._

_Another of those brilliant ideas had been to start a bet about who could pick up more girls in one night and Oliver smirked, happily. He was winning. _

_Both he and Tommy had no problems charming girls, but Oliver was way better at dumping them to pass to the next one. _

_Tommy was currently trapped with a particular clingy girl and he was silently begging his best friend to rescue him, but Oliver was having none of it. He wasn't going to help the competition._

_He turned and winked at a group of girls leaning on the side of the bar, clearing checking him out and he could almost hear Tommy's groan as he moved, grinning, towards them._

"_Hello, ladies. Care for a drink?"_

_He set an elbow on the counter, close enough to be heard over the loud music and he caught the brilliant green eyes of who seemed to be a pretty feisty red head. Exactly what he was looking to catch._

"_Oliver." He said, holding his hand out for her._

_She gave him a saucy grin and tossed her long hair on her shoulder before facing him and sliding her hand in his. "Carrie."_

_A drink soon became several drinks and he forgot temporarily about his bet with Tommy, with Carrie's soft body pressed on his, her hips moving in a very promising way._

_He had hoped they had an understanding. He wasn't a one woman man and from her overall he had thought Carrie wasn't one either._

_The morning after he was too drunk to make it out of bed and disappear before she woke up and he tried to keep a smile on his face when he felt her snuggling closer to him._

_He vaguely remembered going home with her, her caresses, her passionate kisses, but in the light of day he was blaming once again his poor judgment,his mouth still tasting like alcohol and his head pounding with a terrible headache. He couldn't get out of there quickly enough._

_He dressed quickly while she was in the shower, cursing under his breath at the fifteen missed calls from home and quickly dialed Tommy's number, who unwillingly informed him that his dad's Lamborghini had been stolen._

_He was about to make a run for it when she opened the door, catching him with a hand on the handle._

_He put on his most charming smile and she smiled back, a little confused._

"_I have to go, but thank you. I had a great time."_

_He winked at her and hoped it was enough. He had never been good at the morning after conversation, mainly because he didn't have lots of practice. He was a pro in fleeing before the random nameless girl woke up._

"_Ok. I saved my number on your phone, so call me when you get home. Maybe next time I can come to see you at Starling City."_

_He tried to look happy and smiled tightly after she pressed a lingering kiss on his lips before letting him go._

* * *

_In the past few weeks he avoided all her calls and had to stand Tommy, teasing him about his stalker girl, as he liked to call Carrie. _

_Oliver found her calls and texts a bit annoying, but Central City was a hour away from home, so he kept ignoring her happily._

_He had more pressing matter to focus on, anyway._

_Laurel had started to warm up to him again lately and he was considering giving the two of them another chance. He kind of missed her._

_But lately he had also noticed how much her younger sister had grown. Sara Lance had become curvy and confident and he knew she had had a crush on him since forever._

* * *

_His father had started pressuring him again. He wanted him to grow up, to pick a college and stick with it, or to start working at the company, since one day it will be his._

_Oliver didn't feel like doing any of those things. It's not that he didn't care about his father's legacy, but he believed that he would take his place in a future still so far away that it was useless to worry about it now._

_His father died four years later._

* * *

_Exactly a month since he last saw Carrie she showed up at the Mansion. He was stunned to say the least and extremely grateful that his parents and Thea were out on the Gambit that day, leaving him at home alone._

_She tried to act unaffected at first but once she saw Sara, coming out of his kitchen, she lost her poised facade and started yelling at him, giving Sara and the whole staff a detailed tale of their night together._

_Right before leaving, fuming with anger, she took one oh his mother's beloved Venini vases and aimed at him, crushing it on the living room's wall._

_After that afternoon Oliver had hoped not to meet Carrie, ever again._

* * *

Felicity hummed softly under her breath, singing a familiar tone, while she wandered around the streets. After lunch she had decided to go for a walk. She had never been to Central City and she was enjoying her free afternoon.

She thought briefly about Oliver's lunch. She couldn't deny she was curious to know if he and Carrie had a good time and maybe reconnect.

Oliver never told her about his relationship with her but that wasn't unusual. He was always reluctant to discuss his past relationships with her and Felicity knew him well enough to understand he was embarrassed since he wasn't exactly a gentleman back in the days.

On the other hand he had no problem asking her about her private life, even if he didn't seem to like any of her boyfriends.

* * *

She had been the one to push him to go out with Carrie so she should be glad to see her plan working out and she was Oliver's friend, so she wanted him to be happy, but for some, silly reason the idea of them in a romantic sushi restaurant bugged her anyway.

She wasn't going to tell him that, obviously. He would get the wrong idea and she couldn't even blame him for it.

* * *

Felicity didn't have that many friends. She lived far from home so she rarely saw her childhood friends and she was too busy at work to get out regularly, even if she had a small group of people she got along with.

Somehow in the last two years Oliver had slowly become one of her closest friends she had and she assumed she didn't like the idea of sharing him with someone else. Especially if that someone was a woman so beautiful and confident that had the power to make her feel awkward and insecure.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Thanks everyone for supporting the story! I'm having fun writing this and I'm happy you guys like it.

* * *

Gin2a: Thank you! I hope you like this one..

Spitfire303: Thank you. I tried to make Felicity a strong and independent woman as she is in the show. Yeah, Carrie is pretty mean, resourceful though ;)

IFancyu: I will try to update as fast as I can..

Misspsycho24: Yes, Carrie is a bit of a stalker. She has decided she wants Oliver and she is doing whatever she can to get him. I'm really happy you like Oliver and Felicity's relationship. Felicity is clearly in denial, such an useful state of mind ;)

Lililovingreading: Thank you! I hope you keep enjoying the story..

MarianaOlicity13: Thanks! I will try to update as fast as possible.

* * *

Felicity reached her room walking slowly, absentmindedly swinging a big blue plastic bag with the cutest little purple dress she had ever seen.

She could swear categorically she wasn't looking for a dress for tonight. She was going to dinner with Oliver, her friend Oliver and she knew she didn't need to get all dolled up for a friend.

But that afternoon, when she had seen the dress in the shop window she had fallen in love with it instantly and she had to buy it. Part of her also couldn't help but wonder what Oliver would think of it while she had tried it on, glancing at her reflection in the long mirror inside the changing room.

It was tight and in a beautiful light shade of purple, adorned with silver embellishment on the high neckline and on the cut on the back, which let a generous amount of skin showing. She knew it flattered her petite body and she also had the perfect matching shoes that made her legs look long and lean, just the way she liked them.

* * *

She stopped abruptly when she saw someone in front on her door, pacing nervously with her arms crossed in her sky high heels.

"Oh, Felicity!"

She didn't move, watching stunned as the red head woman hurried towards her and hugged her tightly, grasping the back of her shirt and clouding her sight with her long locks.

Felicity awkwardly reached around her to pat her back tentatively with her palm, not sure of what to do.

She reasoned something must have gone wrong during her date with Oliver but she couldn't imagine what and more importantly she didn't know why, of all people, she had decided to come to her.

Carrie drew back with a long, dramatic sigh and rubbed her hands on her cheeks as to wipe away tears, even if Felicity hadn't seen any.

"I need to talk to you. You have no idea what happened! Let's go inside."

She spoke in a high pitched, distressed voice and gestured with her hands while she walked back to the door, waiting for Felicity to join her.

"Uhm- Okay sure."

Felicity stood dumbfounded for a moment before clumsily fishing for her keys inside her big bag, while trying to keep the shopping bag with her new dress out of Carrie's sight.

Carrie entered the room first, frowning at the small, modest room.

"It's not very fancy I know."

Felicity said apologetically, hiding the shopping bag under a chair, and walking towards Carrie, drawing another chair out for her, trying to make her more comfortable.

Carrie sat down in front of her, her eyes quickly glancing at the bag under Felicity's chair, her forehead wrinkling for a moment, before looking back at the blonde twisting nervously her hands on the table between them.

"My dad found out what happened between me and Ollie six years ago. I don't know what to do."

"What? I-"

"You know what happened right? He must have told _you_, for sure."

Carrie spoke without hesitation and Felicity shifted under her stare, unwilling to admit how little she knew about Oliver's past.

"No, he- he didn't tell me."

Carrie shot her a sympathetic look, shaking her head a little and Felicity felt her cheeks growing a little red, uncomfortable.

"He told me he had feelings for me, that I was different from any other girl he had met before and I believed him. I fell from him, because Ollie can be so-"

She sighed, fixing her eyes on her, leaning a little on the table and speaking in a low voice as she was confessing a big secret.

"Once I told him I had feelings for him too and we- we got together he disappeared. He broke my heart."

"I'm sorry Carrie."

Felicity cast her eyes on the table, hoping Carrie was going to stop if she didn't encourage her too much, but the other woman seemed determined to tell her everything.

"I didn't want my father to find out because I still have feelings for him and now we have another chance to be together. I wanted my dad to like him."

"But he found out."

"Yes. We must do something, Felicity."

Felicity looked at her quietly for a moment, pondering about it. She wasn't sure why Carrie would want to help Oliver or being with him if he had really treated her that way, but she also didn't know why she would lie to her now.

She worried her bottom lip, not wanting to confide in that woman but also feeling the need to help them if she could.

"Carrie, I' m sorry for what happened but you don't have to worry about the business deal, it has nothing to do with yours or Oliver's private life. Your father is a professional, he won't care."

"No, no, Felicity. My dad isn't going to pass over this, he isn't. Unless-"

Carrie insisted stubbornly, a crease of annoyance between her brows, stopping to give Felicity a meaningful look and she couldn't stop herself from asking, her curiosity spiking.

"Unless what?"

"Unless we show him how much Oliver has changed, how much he cares for me. Maybe this way he will change his mind. I just want to help him."

"Carrie, I- I don't know what to say. This is between you and Oliver, I-"

Felicity tried to stop her, stunned, wiggling her hands in front of her face.

"You are his friend! He is too proud to ask my father to forgive him, but I can see how important this deal is to him, to the company. Maybe you can help him. You can convince him to do the right thing, he will listen to you."

"I- I" Felicity stuttered, her brain failing to provide an excuse, cursing inwardly when she couldn't help but giving in, feeling cornered. "I can try."

"Thank you. But don't tell him I came to talk to you. Please. We are still trying to figure things out and he doesn't want me to protect him. You know, he wants to be the one to protect me."

"O-okay."

* * *

Felicity let the smooth fabric of her new dress slide between her fingers. She was supposed to get dressed, but for some reasons she kept sitting in the middle of her bed, freshly showered and with her blonde hair in wild free curls on her bare shoulders, while the rest of her body was covered in a big, fluffy towel.

She couldn't stop her mind from drifting back to her conversation with Carrie and her promise to help her, already regretting her involvement in Oliver's messy private life.

After she had started working with Oliver and had begun to know him better she had gotten curious about his personal life, especially about his past dealings with women due to all the gossiping around the office.

She didn't know any details, though, even if she had tried to snoop around a little.

She discovered a little from Oliver's chatty friend, Tommy, before Oliver hastily shut him up with a murderous look, clearly uncomfortable, his cheeks always turning pink with embarrassment.

She knew he had been with a lot of women and most of them weren't the kind that parents would approve of, making his mother suspicious of any girl he came in contact with, including Felicity, apparently.

* * *

_Two Years ago_

_Felicity smiled brightly, walking fast towards the elevator to welcome the elegant and poised woman who had stridden out of the sliding doors with decision, like the place belonged to her, which if she had to think about it was precisely the case._

_She was surprised to see her there, but happy nonetheless. She knew she had been avoiding being seen in public and most of all she hadn't been at the company since the accident, leaving Oliver on his own._

"_Mrs Queen! Welcome back to the company, I'm-"_

"_I know who you are. You are Oliver's secretary and you were my husband's secretary."_

_Felicity pressed her lips together to avoid correcting her, trying not to wince under the slow perusal she did of her body that stopped a moment longer on the hem of her dress, probably judging it too short for her liking._

"_Mom? What are you doing here?"_

_Felicity turned in time to see Oliver walking uncertainly towards them, a kind, if not a little nervous smile on his face as he glanced between her and his mother._

"_Oliver, dear."_

_Moira Queen moved around Felicity with elegance to kiss her son's cheek with affection, her whole demeanor changing in front of Oliver, while he bended his knees slightly to help her reach his cheek without effort._

_Felicity observed them curiously, smiling a little._

_She knew Oliver was particularly close to his mother, even before his father's death, and she clearly adored him, her feature softening as she spoke to him, before slipping her arm in his, to make him guide her towards his office, but Oliver stopped, looking behind his mother, right at Felicity._

"_So have you met Felicity?"_

"_Yes."_

_Mrs Queen spoke slowly, watching her son cautiously and she rose her brows in surprised when she saw him reaching for Felicity with quick strides to tug her towards her._

_Felicity glanced confused between Oliver's face and his hand still holding her arm, but recovered quickly and gave his mother a polite smile._

"_Hello, again."_

"_Good morning, Miss?"_

"_Smoak." Felicity answered, almost at the same time as Oliver said "Felicity.", leaving his mother speechless for a moment._

"_Good, very good. Darling I need to talk to you. Can we go inside your office?"_

"_Of course."_

* * *

"_Miss Smoak."_

"_Yes. What can I do for you?"_

_Felicity rose on her feet, placing her tablet on the desk, smiling warmly at the older woman, trying very hard not to be bothered by the distinct hardness in her light blue eyes._

_As Mrs Queen stared down at her Felicity felt herself blushing under her stare. She made her feel like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar._

"_Oliver speaks very highly of you and if I remember correctly my husband was quite impress with your skills, too."_

"_Thank you. He was very nice to me and I' m thankful for-"_

"_Of course my husband seemed to have a high appreciation for young women in general."_

_Mrs Queen didn't let her finish and Felicity felt herself flush at what she was not so subtly implying._

"_Mrs Queen, I-"_

"_I'm sure you are a delightful young woman, but I need to make myself clear. My family doesn't need any more distractions, especially in the form of young and ambitious women."_

"_I'm not-"_

_Felicity tried to step in, embarrassed that Oliver's mother, of all people, misunderstood so completely the nature of their relationship, but she didn't let her speak, pinning her with a stern look._

"_I know my son, Miss Smoak."_

"_Mom?"_

_Oliver poked his head outside his office, glancing from his mother tense stance to Felicity's flushed face. "Is everything okay?"_

"_Of course. I wanted to greet Miss Smoak properly before leaving. Have a nice day, both of you."_

* * *

"_Hey, what was that about?"_

"_Nothing. Really, it was nothing."_

_Felicity tried to brush him off and started tidying her desk, hoping to hide her still bright pink cheeks._

"_I know that my mother can come out a little intense sometimes, but she has nothing against you. _

_What happened with my dad had been hard for her and she can't help but be wary of everyone. I' m sure she would like you if she got to know you."_

"_Thank you. That's fine, don't worry about it, I understand. I just- I think she may have misunderstood our relationship."_

_Oliver looked at her blinking rapidly, his shoulders slightly tensing._

"_Why? What did she tell you?"_

"_Well I think the meaning was to leave you alone, even if it was really elegantly put."_

"_I'm sorry."_

_Felicity shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. She was aware that their relationship wasn't considered innocent by most of the people at the Company, she had heard the rumors after all, and as difficult as it was she was trying not to let them affect her._

"_I haven't been that trustworthy in the past so I guess I can't blame her." Oliver explained uncomfortably, before adding after a moment, without looking at her. "She liked Laurel, she likes Laurel."_

"_Well, you were young. Maybe one day the two of you can try again."_

"_No, I- She is a great girl, but we didn't work. I know it was my fault but I have always hoped it would have been different with someone else, someone who was right for me. Maybe I wouldn't have been such a jerk."_

_Felicity looked at him, sighing softly, before putting a comforting hand on his arm._

"_You are a good man, Oliver and I think you will find a nice girl who is right for you and you will treat her well. Maybe one that even your mother will like."_

_They shared a smile, Oliver shaking his head a little while she punched him lightly on his arm._

* * *

The only Oliver who mattered to Felicity was the one she got to know in the past two years, not the image the tabloids painted of him.

And the man she knew didn't use women, care for his family and tried to do his best, despite having to live constantly with being usually described as a rich, spoiled child.

* * *

Before seeing Carrie she was looking forward to their dinner, only joking about wanting to discuss his lunch date.

She had simply wanted to have dinner with her friend, to sip an absurdly expensive bottle of red wine, and probably share a delicious, fancy looking dessert.

Now she not only had to talk about him and Carrie but she also had to be the one to insist on the topic, since Oliver wasn't going to be happy to discuss his private life.

She was also supposed to lie about her meeting with Carrie and that was the worst part. She was a lousy liar and she didn't like the idea of lying to him of all people. She hadn't done it in the whole time they had worked together.

* * *

Oliver smoothed nervously the lapels of his dark grey suit.

He had picked one of his favorite suits paired with the light blue tie he knew Felicity liked. He could remember the way she affectionately told him it brought out his eyes and he had chosen it, smiling.

He had decided not to worry too much about what was going to happen with the business deal. Maybe it was irresponsible as the CEO, but Oliver felt he didn't have any choices and anguishing over it didn't solve anything.

He was sure he did the right thing when he spoke to Carrie and he wasn't going to let his past, in the form of a crazy red head ex girlfriend, ruined his future, or his dinner.

* * *

Oliver smiled widely as he saw Felicity opening the door, a warmth spreading inside his chest at the sight of her familiar blond curls and shining blue eyes.

He was so relaxed, so carefree that he didn't even notice the way she avoided meeting his eyes and the tight lipped smile she gave him.

He ranked his eyes over her body while she was stuffing her keys and phone inside her small matching clutch and noticed the way the purple fabric, clinging perfectly on her curves, made her pale skin glow.

"Ready to go?"

She fidgeted with a particular wild lock, before managing to tuck it behind her small, delicate ear.

"Yeah."

He held the door open for her, letting her brush past him and kept glancing at her during the whole, quiet ride to the restaurant.

He quickly realized Felicity was unnaturally quiet, no enthusiastic comment on the red wine she was going to order, no reprimand for not keeping his eyes on the road.

She was keeping her focus on the slightly open window, two fingers tucked in the split, to feel a bit of the cool night air.

* * *

"Hey."

Oliver spoke softly, nudging her shoulder with his own, stopping her before she could get inside the small Italian restaurant he had chosen with such care.

Felicity turned to look at him. "What is it?"

"What's going on with you?"

He asked kindly, with a concerned tone that made Felicity feel even worse, so she cast her eyes away and mumbled in reply.

"Nothing."

"Felicity, please. You are a terrible liar and I know you. Something is bothering you. Come on, you can tell me."

He had stopped her with a hand on her bare arms and he was now bending a little to meet her eyes, making impossible for Felicity to stop herself from saying exactly what was on her mind.

"I- I just. I was thinking about Carrie."

That was probably the last thing he thought she was going to say and he let go quickly of her arm, watching her with wide eyes.

"What is with you and that girl? We spent one night together six years ago because we were both drunk and I was a jerk. That's it. There has never been anything between us."

"So you saw her just once?"

"Yes! No, well, not once, but that's not the point!"

Oliver rose his voice without thinking, annoyed both at her and even more at himself for getting involved with Carrie in the first place.

Felicity shifted uncomfortably under his stare and glanced back at the valet who had parked their car.

"Ok, maybe I should go."

"No, no, wait."

Oliver grabbed her wrist quickly, before she had the chance to step back.

"I didn't mean to snap at you, I' m sorry. Can we not ruin our night? Please?"

"Okay, okay."

* * *

Oliver looked at the woman at the other side of the table, his chest heavy.

He couldn't wait for their dinner, to hear her babbling, to make her laugh and let her have most of his dessert after she had refused to order it because she claimed she had already had too much to eat.

But Felicity wasn't talking to him or laughing, or even smiling. She was looking grimly at her plate, moving her half eaten pasta around, frowning slightly.

"Felicity, I-" Oliver took a deep breath, willing to do anything to dissipate the tension between them. " Just tell me what I did wrong, please. Talk to me."

Felicity watched him with pleading eyes, chewing on her bottom lip, clearly doubting what she was about to do.

"Please, don't tell her."

Felicity kept her focus on the crisp white tablecloth while she told Oliver everything Carrie had confessed that afternoon, so she missed the way his face darkened more and more at every word.

Oliver couldn't believe the stunt Carrie had laid on. Apparently she was determined to make him pay, just as she had promised, but he didn't expect her to use Felicity to do it.

Luckily Carrie had undervalued Felicity's loyalty, obviously counting on her lying to him. Sure to have made her doubt him with her little tale about their past relationship.

* * *

"Oliver, Oliver."

He slowly rose his eyes to look at her, realizing he had spaced out.

"Hey." Felicity spoke softly and looked at him with wide, worried eyes, before reaching with tentative hands to make him release the tight grip he didn't realize he had on his fork.

"I'm sorry."

He opened his hand, letting her take the fork to put it on the table.

"You are mad, like really really mad."

It wasn't a question, more of a nervous statement and she started worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, drawing his attention to her pink painted lips. Oliver shook his head, bringing his eyes up to hers.

"Not at you."

Felicity smiled a little at that, her eyes softening.

"Probably you wouldn't have believed her if I had been honest with you, if I had told you about what had happened between us. But I was ashamed, I am ashamed."

"You don't have to tell me." She said gently, sensing his distress.

"No, I do. Just try not to think too lowly of me."

* * *

Felicity ended up eating Oliver's whole dessert this time, a marvelous triple chocolate souffle with raspberries while he kept observing her, his jaws set, still waiting for her to react at what he had told her.

"Are you sure you don't want to try it?" She looked at him, with the spoon full of the last piece of souffle and he shook his head decisively, eating the last thing on his mind.

"Oliver stop sulking. I'm not your mother, you don't have to justify yourself with me."

"You may haven't noticed but I care about your opinion."

"What do you want me to say? Yes, what you did was wrong and pretty horrible and even if she is a conniving liar she didn't deserve it. But I also think you have changed since than. If you haven't you would have used her to close the deal, but you chose to tell her the truth. You did the right thing. You are still a good person, a good person who did a horrible thing."

"So you are not mad at me?"

She smiled kindly before indulging him. "I'm not mad at you Oliver."

* * *

Felicity shivered a little when they stepped out in the cool night air. There was a breeze and she had forgotten a jacket.

She startled slightly when she felt something warm and soft on her bare shoulders and she glanced at her side, surprised to see Oliver draping his suit jacket on her, before reaching for the lapels, smiling, tugging the jacket closed, making sure she was covered.

Felicity felt her cheeks flushing, her treacherous heart beating faster at his closeness. He was so close she could almost count his eyelashes and she caught a sniff of his aftershave, that made her a little high headed.

Her chest tightened at his kindness and thoughtfulness and she stood there for a long moment, frozen, before blurting out the first thing that came into her mind.

"Why do you bother so much with my opinion?"

"What?" He looked at her surprised and maybe a little hurt and Felicity winced, regretting her question instantly. "Would you prefer if I didn't care?"

"No. No. I- I' m just curious, that's all. I-"

He gave her an exasperated look and sighed, glancing briefly at the sky before casting his eyes back on hers, a curious expression on his face.

Felicity frowned and opened her mouth to speak but she stopped short as she felt his large, rough hand grasping her cheeks gently, his eyes flickering at her lips before glancing back at her wide open eyes.

She just had a moment to gasp quickly before she felt his lips on hers, warm and soft, moving gently over hers, slowly, trying to coax a response out of her.

Her eyelids shut closed on their own accord as she felt his firm body pressing into hers and she sank into him, her stomach fluttering at the marvelous tingling sensation she felt wherever he was touching her.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks everyone for supporting the story! It's really fun to write but hearing your thoughts really makes me eager to keep updating!**

* * *

Misspsycho24: I didn't even mean to make Carrie so bad, but it was so natural :) I like writing Moira with Felicity so I have plans for them to meet again!

CaptainWilliamsN7: We are definitively right into the good part, I hope you like this chapter!

IFancyu: Thank you! I'm happy you liked it..

Louloulana: Thanks! I hope you keep enjoying the story..

PiratePrincess16: Thank you! I'm really happy to hear it and I hope you like this one, too..

MarianaOlicity13: Thanks! I will update as fast as I can..

Inspirechangesa: Thank you! I really liked writing the last part, too :)

* * *

Felicity gripped Oliver's shirt tightly, her legs wobbly, her brain failing to catch up with what was happening.

Oliver was kissing her, her boss-friend Oliver was kissing her. An not just any average, peck on the lips between friends, but a toe curling, stomach fluttering kiss.

He sucked lightly on her bottom lip, making her moan softly, and dragged his teeth on it before pressing his lips tenderly on her own once, twice, lingering and than drawing back, to look at her, brushing his nose against hers.

Felicity kept her eyes closed, panting and trying to regain her breath, his closeness intoxicating and the scent of his aftershave deliciously distracting.

"Felicity?"

Oliver pleaded softly, a clear edge in his voice and she opened her eyes slowly, raising her chin to gaze at him, her cheeks flushed and her lips swollen.

He was blushing too, his cheeks pinker than usual even in the low light and there was a crease of concern between his brows.

"Uh?"

She would have liked to have a witty come back ready for that moment, but her mind was totally blank and two letters words seemed to be the best she could muster.

She instinctively tightened her grip on his shirt and she felt him take a quick breath, his muscles rippling under her touch.

Her eyes widened. She was suddenly very aware of the intimacy of their position, her hands on his chest and his hands holding her waist, so she lifted her hands, her whole face burning.

She wriggled her hands awkwardly between them, unable to look at him anymore and she felt his hands slowly sliding from her body, before he took a step back, her body shivering at the loss of his warmth.

Felicity heard him clear his throat and she looked up slightly, fixing her eyes on his chin, before sneaking a quick peek of his face.

Oliver wasn't looking at her, his head bowed slightly, turned to one side and he seemed to be gritting his teeth, a muscle jumping in his jaws.

She watched him take a deep, shuddering breath and she was enthralled by his mouth, a smear of her lipstick on the edge of his lip and she didn't realize he was speaking until she heard him calling her name.

"Felicity? Felicity?"

"What?"

She blinked, relieved to see that she seemed to be able to speak like a normal human being again and looked at him, noticing the way he was avoiding her eyes.

Her stomach clenched nervously as she observed his tense stance and the way he was scratching the back of his head, an involuntary habit she knew he had.

"I'm sorry."

His voice was hoarse and it took her a moment to realize he was apologizing for kissing her.

She didn't answer, at a loss. She knew she should tell him not to worry about it, that they could forget about it and go back to being friends, but part of her refused to do that.

She worried her bottom lip,confused at the mixed feelings inside her head. The memory of his lips on hers was still clear and if she was an impulsive girl, an act first and think about the consequences later sort of girl, she would probably reach for him, she would grab his face and-

"Hey? Did I- did I screw this up?"

Oliver spoke in a pained voice, clearly obnoxious of the very suggestive and appealing imagines clouding her head and Felicity shook herself, her stomach clenching at his evident distress. "No. No, you didn't."

He gave her a small smile, seeming reassured, but it quickly slipped from his face and he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Do you want to go home? I can take you home. Or I can call you a car, or a cab or-"

"It's fine. Let's just go."

* * *

Felicity observed him closely and stifled a sigh, he truly looked miserable.

They hadn't exchanged a single word during the whole ride back to the hotel, the uneasy silence stretching between them, but they were almost at the lobby now and she couldn't leave him this way, no matter how badly she was going to embarrass herself, or him, or them both.

* * *

"Do you like me, Oliver? I mean _like me_ like me."

_Hey they couldn't say she was one to avoid issues. _

Felicity cringed at her own choice of words and for a long moment she got nothing but silence from him and she started thinking desperately at the best way to backtrack what she had just said when he sighed, a little exasperated, before answering her quietly.

"I have liked you since the first day we met."

"Oh." She eyed him nervously, her heart hammering against her ribcage, still unsure of what to make of his confession. "Why did you never tell me?"

"Well, I knew you weren't interested."

* * *

_Christmas Eve, two years ago_

"_Hey, I wanted to say goodbye, I' m heading out."_

_Felicity had strode inside his office with a bright smile, obviously delighted at the idea of having some time off from work, especially after all the additional hours she had had to put in since he had become CEO._

"_Okay. I' ll see you tonight."_

"_What?"_

_Oliver's easy smile slipped from his face as he glanced at her puzzled expression._

"_Yes. We are hosting the Christmas party at the Mansion this year. Didn't you get the invitation?"_

"_Yeah. But-"_

"_You aren't coming? But it's Christmas."_

_He was incredulous and he was slightly pouting, even if he would never admit that._

"_I'm Jewish"_

"_Than consider it an Hanukkah party. Everyone will be there."_

_Oliver insisted stubbornly, looking for once exactly like the spoiled rich boy the press described him to be._

"_Yes, I know. Wish a Happy Christmas to your family for me. Well, your mom and sister don't really like me so-"_

"_They like you." _

"_Wish it to Tommy, though. He likes me enough. And to your bodyguard, Mr Diggle. Big arms, serious and with sunglasses. He was nice to me."_

_He looked at her gaping slightly and Felicity suppressed a laugh. He was frowning and it was clear he was searching his brain for a way to change her mind, so she waved him goodbye, walking quickly to the elevator._

"_I'll see you back at work."_

* * *

_Oliver had been sulking the whole night. _

_He had had to play nice and make small talk with all the share holders and especially the few investors who had showed up. _

_The Queen name didn't seem appealing to many people those days, but his mother had insisted that every single one of their guests was important and deserved their whole attention, so she had been pleasantly entertaining them and had sternly suggested that both him and Thea follow her example._

_He noticed he couldn't see his little sister anywhere in the large ball room and he realized she had probably left without drawing their mother's attention._

_Oliver looked around for what it had to be the millionth time, searching for a certain familiar face in the small crowd, but when he couldn't spot her anywhere he sighed and grimly made his way out of the room, quickly glancing at his mother, checking that she was still too busy to see him sneaking out._

_He absentmindedly wandered the private area of the house and he was drawn by the sound of low giggling, coming from their living room. _

_Frowning he pushed the door open, smiling when he spotted Thea, sitting on the floor at the foot of the Christmas tree, shaking the presents, trying as she always did to guess what was inside, while his best friend Tommy was eating hors d' oevers sitting in a chair nearby._

"_Anything good?"_

"_Hey Ollie!"_

_Thea smiled brightly at him, looking much younger and carefree that she seemed these days, her heels discarded on the floor and her expensive silver gown tucked under her legs._

"_Hey, buddy. Done with the mingling?"_

"_Definitely done."_

_Oliver dropped in a free chair near the fireplace, sighing with relief and loosening his bow tie. He was finally with two of the few people who didn't expect him to smile politely and to play the perfect son and business man for the public eye._

"_Where is Felicity?"_

_Oliver shot an irritated glance at Tommy, sensing the mirth in his tone and he answered sternly, hinting to his friend to drop the subject._

"_She isn't coming."_

"_Wait, Felicity? Your assistant Felicity? The one who came here to drag you out of bed?"_

_Much to his disdain, Tommy's little comment had piqued Thea's interest and she had a sly and determined look in her face he knew spelled trouble._

"_When did that happen? And why did nobody tell be about that?"_

_Tommy looked between him and his sister, his eyes shining with mischief, grinning amused and she answered, dismissing him quickly with a wave of her hand._

"_Ollie was sleeping off a gigantic hangover and she came here to take him to work."_

"_And you got up? Like for real? Man!"_

_Tommy laughed delighted, not at all deterred by the murderous look Oliver threw at him and Thea narrowed her eyes, leaning the present she was holding on the floor, giving her brother her full attention._

"_What's the deal with this girl? Are you two having a thing? Like a boss-secretary kind of-"_

"_Speedy!"_

"_What?"_

"_First of all there is no thing and second of all you are way too young to think about those kind of things."_

"_Believe him, Thea. There is no thing. She wouldn't go out with him if he begged her on his knees."_

_Oliver frowned at his friends' remark, while his little sister giggled amused."Very funny, Tommy. She said to wish you a Happy Christmas, but I' m not sure you deserve it."_

"_Oh, did she? I already thought she liked me better, but it's good to know."_

_He popped the last canape in his mouth, smiling smugly at Oliver and Thea stepped in, her arm crossed, a little annoyed._

"_What about me? No Christmas wishes for me?"_

"_She thinks you and mum hate her."_

"_Really? Why? Well I guess I could have behaved better when she came here, but you know, blonde girl, looking for my brother." She shrugged, giving him a judgmental look and Oliver seemed offended for a moment, before realizing he probably deserved that. "What did mum do?"_

"_Nothing."_

"_So you like her?"_

_Thea asked curious and Tommy eagerly answered for him._

"_He likes her? You should see him when she is around! He is like a lost puppy!"_

_Oliver glared at Tommy, because that was absolutely not true. Oliver Queen didn't look like a puppy in any situation and especially not for a girl, for God's sake!_

"_Oh, you're blushing. That's a first. I want to meet this girl!"_

_Thea clapped her hands in front of her, her tone a mix of incredulity and excitement and Oliver quickly scanned his brain for a way out of this conversation. One that didn't include his little hurricane of a sister meeting his.. meeting Felicity._

"_You have already met her."_

"_Not as the girl my brother is in love with."_

"_I'm not!" He protested sternly but Thea wasn't even paying attention to him, her mind as always full of ideas._

"_You should buy her a present."_

_He looked at her with his mouth slightly agape and he cursed inwardly because he knew he was blushing, his cheeks burning._

"_Oh, you have already done that! What did you get her?"_

"_Stop it, both of you. I think I like the share holders better."_

_Oliver muttered under his breath, his escape from the main room backfiring spectacularly._

"_Did you buy her jewelry? Because I saw this amazing pair of diamond earrings-" _

"_Thea!" _

"_Just so you know. It's not too late to change the present if you got her a dumb guy thing."_

_Tommy shook his head and interrupted Thea._

"_Felicity isn't the kind of girl who swoons for jewelry. She is into tech. You bought something like that right?"_

_Oliver didn't answer any of them and got up annoyed before making his way back to the main room, ignoring his sister's calls and his friend's laughter._

* * *

_He hadn't bought her jewelry, nor tech. _

_He had wanted to but he knew she wouldn't accept something that expensive from him so he had decided to look for something she would agree on and really like, thinking it couldn't be that difficult._

_Sadly he was wrong. Too used to girls loving anything that came out of a velvet box he had no idea where to find the perfect gift for the one he wanted to impress the most._

_He had wandered grimly around the mall for more than one weekend, too proud to ask for help and in the end he had bought her a box of artificial snow. _

_It had seemed so real it had made him grin and he had thought she would like it, remembering her pout at the lack of a white winter that year._

* * *

Felicity fell silent, stunned at his confession. She was well aware he had tried to hit on her when they first met but she had never taken him seriously. He had thought she was one of the many girls he liked to flirt with, pretty enough, but not that much to really interest him and he obviously had a girlfriend, even if he had needed to be remind of that small tiny detail.

When they had started working together he had just lost his father and she had known he needed someone he could count on, a friend, not a girlfriend, so she had dismissed him when he had asked her out, ignoring the flipping in her stomach every time he did it, his charming grin in place.

* * *

The problem was that he wasn't only some charming, good looking guy.

The more time they had spent together the more she had realized he wasn't the spoiled, selfish boy everyone thought he was. He was kind, caring and he always used a particular tenderness with her whenever she embarrassed herself and she knew, if given the chance, she could easily fall for him.

So she had decided to avoid any temptation and to keep their relationship strictly professional.

After a while though, she had started to relax around him and before she knew it she had started to linger in his office more and more when he wanted to talk or when Tommy came to visit and she had stopped opposing when he insisted on having lunch break in fancy restaurants with her.

* * *

She knew that after two years she cared for Oliver more than she probably should and the knowledge that he cared for her too made her heart thump wildly in her chest, even if she wasn't sure she was ready to let her carefully built walls fall down, especially when her brain, always the party pooper, was screaming she was going to get hurt.

* * *

"Oliver are- are you sure?"

He quickly turned to look at her, confused at her tentative question.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well-" Felicity paused, taking a deep breath and thinking for a moment of the best way to explain the mess that was raging inside her brain before speaking very slowly, pondering every word. "You are you and I am me. You are aware of that."

His lips twitched for a moment before he answered her. "Yes, I am."

She looked at him, thinking he wasn't taking her seriously and she wrinkled her nose in annoyance.

"I'm awkward, clumsy and I always put the foot in my mouth. I' m not classy or elegant and I can't go to fancy dinners because I have absolutely no idea which one is the salad fork. I even googled it because for the life of me I can't remember but once I' m at the restaurant I can swear-"

"Felicity. I like that you are clumsy."

He caught her wandering hands, interrupting her ramble and couldn't keep the smile on his face, endeared by her and earning a stern look in return.

"I do! You are-" He shook his head, smiling softly at himself. "I have never liked anyone as much as I like you."

She gazed into his eyes for a moment before whispering seriously.

"We would make a ridiculous couple."

"Ridiculously attractive."

Felicity couldn't help but smile a little at his antics and at his charming smile and shook her head before answering, but she could hear the lack of real conviction in her own voice.

"The weird girl and the successful CEO."

"The beautiful brilliant MIT graduated and the spoiled college drop out."

"It's just that- it always ends up badly for me, every single time. And I' m not saying it would be your fault!But-"

"But I have screwed up every relationship I have been in."

* * *

_Four years ago_

"_Laurel it's not true, I swear."_

"_No Ollie! If you didn't want me to find out you should have picked a different girl! And really? Cassie Adams? You said how full of herself and superficial she is and then you- you do something like that?"_

_Laurel was crying, her beautiful, sad eyes red and puffy and he looked at her, helplessly searching for an excuse for what he had done._

"_I was drunk, I didn't mean-"_

_He tried to argue weakly but Laurel silenced him with a icy look._

"_And at Tommy's party? Everybody could have seen you! That's just- that's too humiliating. It's over and this time for good."_

_Oliver looked at her, making no move to stop her from leaving, the sound of her heels echoing down the old maple stairs. Once he heard the front door slamming in the distance he let out a breath and fell down on his bed, his hands tucked under his head. _

_He was truly sorry._

_Laurel was a great girl, beautiful, classy, poised and responsible. His family loved her and his mother had even insisted that she tried on her diamond ring, the one that had belonged to her mother in law before her, the family heirloom she was so proud of, hinting that she may wear it one day._

_Moira Queen was judgmental and detached towards any of the people her kids brought home so for her to take such a liking in Laurel was quite the event._

_But that night at Tommy's party he had reasoned he was way too young to be a one woman man. _

_None of his friends was in a committed relationship yet and as much as he liked Laurel he liked his freedom more. And being the selfish spoiled brat he was he had declined her polite invitation for a quite Saturday night at her house and he had decided to get wasted at his friend's pool party instead._

_That obviously had led to some harmless flirting with some nameless half naked girls, batting their eyelashes at him and it quickly had turned into him, showing the inside of the house to the one with the skimpiest bikini, whose name now he knew, was Cassie Adams._

* * *

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. You obviously deserve better than me."

"No! Oliver, it's not what I meant."

"Than what did you mean?"

Felicity bit her bottom lip nervously.

In that moment she wanted nothing more than to soothe his insecurities, to assure him that he deserved any woman. The Oliver Queen the public eye knew probably didn't, but the Oliver she knew, the one under that annoying cocky attitude, the one who was one of the people she cared about the most, he surely did.

"I mean that you will obviously get tired of me, because I 'm just me and I can't see you running off in the sunset with some perfect woman that's everything I' m not."

He laughed, exasperated at her quiet and a little resigned tone. He truly couldn't believe her.

"Felicity. When I first started to work at Queen Consolidated I came to the office every day, even if I hated it, because I wanted to impress you.

I tried not to get drunk and behave like I used to because I knew you didn't like it.

I spent a whole month trying to find the perfect Christmas gift for you, because I wanted to get you something personal and I ended up getting you a box of snow."

"What? When?"

She looked at him stunned and he blushed slightly grumbling a reply.

"I never gave it to you, I thought it was too stupid.

I stopped dating because the only one I wanted to go out with was you. Tommy teased me every day for that. I went out with Carrie, who is an absolute nightmare, because you told me to and I didn't want to let you down."

"Your mother hates me."

He moved closer, taking an hold of her upper arms, sensing her resolve crumbling, her voice now small and unsure.

"She doesn't. You can come to dinner to know her better if you want."

"That kind of scares me off to be honest."

"What about the rest?"

She smiled shyly before answering him, her eyes twinkling as she peered at him.

"The rest was pretty good."

Her smile widened when she saw his grin, his open and earnest smile enough to make her insides squirm.

She tipped her chin up, letting her lips hover over his and her eyelashes fluttered when she felt his hand sliding in her hair, his fingertips gently caressing her scalp.

This time when she felt his lips on hers she pushed on her tiptoes to return the kiss eagerly, letting him support most of her weight, his strong arm banded on her back sending a thrill through her spine.

She moaned when she felt his tongue peak through his lips and tracing hers, coaxing them open. She opened her mouth instantly and boldly curled her tongue around his, making him groan.

She melted into his body as he took control of the kiss, angling her head to bring her impossibly close.

For a brief moment she thought she had been an idiot to push him away all this time, when apparently they could have been doing exactly this for two whole years, but that was the last thought of her usually overactive mind.

After that she could only focus on him, on his muscles under her hands, on his body pressed tightly against hers, on the way the way his tongue tangled with hers, making her toe curl and on her own fast beating heart while a feeling of warmth, of pure bliss took over her entire body and she lost herself in that perfect moment.


End file.
